Time Beyond Time {Tagg}

[Gone5eva]

The winter gusts blew violently across the snowed in park, her feet carrying her through the white blanket. She came here often, bundled in her tight coat, simply to think. The snow below her feet absorbed the sounds of everything- the rattling of the dead trees, her own heavy footsteps, even her quiet breaths. The loudest thing out in the wastes seemed ot be the blood rushing through her ears.

She took her seat at her usual bench- the one where she was almost mugged, her head resting against her wrists. She never wandered at night any more since then.

Her jaws shut gently, sighing as she hugged her jacket tighter to her body. Adrestria felt lonely, and almost wished another soul would step out of the gently drifting flakes, fluttering, flickering around her lithe form. She had no idea what to do with herself today- Harmonia and Rhode were off doing other things- Rhode with her friends, Harmonia spending a 'Girl's Day' with their mother. Father went to work, as he did most days.

She missed her big bear of a father- he was going to work himself into an ulcer if he wasn't careful. Slim fingers rose, gently poking patterns into the freshly fallen snow of the concrete picnic bench where she sat, cold seeping into her legs as she thought.

Maybe she should go make some friends. New friends were always fun, right?

[Taggerung]

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[[ I can feel the rust on my post. D: Also, I'll table this later. Table'd. ]]

The snow swirled around the blonde male, his blue eyes watching as the soft ice beneath this feet crunched gently. A sigh passed through his lips as a shiver ran through his body. Damn, it was cold out. Justin dug his gloved paws deeper into the leather coat that hung from his shoulders, and pulled his head down into the collar, trying his hardest to cover his neck from the wet snow. Head down, the male wandered through the trees of the park – the biggest in the district, the nice one, the one with the trees. He wasn't sure what he was after here, but it was better than at home, stuck inside and withering away as his parents told him stories about magic jewels and sales tricks.

Don't get him wrong. Justin loves his mother and father, but honestly they were such a bore sometimes.

He paused, briefly, beside a tall tree, his head finally rising to look upwards. All his blue eyes could find, though, were canopy leaves. There weren't as many answers in the trees.

“Hmph,” the sound came gruffly from him, and his body shuddered again, head falling to its normal position. “Maybe it would help if I actually had a question.”

Looking around, Justin leaned against the tree for a moment, letting his mind wander. Head tilting to the side, he saw a glimpse of blonde. It was almost hard to see against the snow white of the world, but it was there. He pushed himself from the tree to wander towards it, wondering who in the world would be out and about with this much snow in the air.

'You are,' his brain commented, his eyes rolling at himself.

“Excuse me? Hey,” he greeted happily, flopping to sit on the bench beside her. “What're you doing out here in this cold? It's freezing out here. Can't be a place for... Wait a minute. You're the crazy girl from school. Right? The fighter girl.”

[Gone5eva]

"Oh!" Her lips part into the gentle vowel, her gaze rising to meet the boy's face. Yes, he looked familiar- that jawline. She recalled some of her 'Friends' about his sexy jawline and perfect hair. "Crazy?" her face fell as she glared away. "I'm not crazy, I just want to make sure I come back in one peice if I'm ever taken." she explained, her voice dark, and quiet.

Her gaze slipped away to a pile of perfect powder, exhaling deeply. "I wanted a miniute away from my sisters. Y'know, a place where I could come to be alone." Her eyes lifted to meet Justin's, and she felt her heart flip once, twice in her chest.

He just looked...

So nice.

"You're Justin." she says, her voice flat as her fingers lift to mash the two inches of perfect snow freshly fallen upon the table. It felt like a massive wall had been built between the two. "Okay, well... What are you doing out here? I didn't think you had that bad of a family life."

[Taggerung]

Justin couldn't help but chuckle a little at the woman's surprised response. She looked quite surprised to see him, as if she had been purposefully hiding. Not that it was a good place to hide, out here in the open, sitting on a bench. The male took the spot beside her, his left ankle rising to rest across his right knee as he sighed a little, listening to her speak. Maybe he shouldn't have judged.

“I'm sorry,” he muttered, his blue eyes glancing away from her for a moment and towards the snow. “It's just what everyone calls you. I'm... I'm not really sure of your name. We've never met, I don't think,” he went on, eventually turning his head back towards her, offering a small, apologetic smile.

Shaking his head a little, his eyes fell for a moment. He'd often wondered what it would have been like to have a younger sibling. He always liked those fantasies. “Well at least you're not alone,” Justin said, shrugging a bit. “Or bored, or lonely, y'know. I wouldn't mind having a sibling. Maybe my father would back down every once in a while.”

The male paused as Adrestria spoke again, questioning him curiously. His gaze fell onto her gray eyes, looking a bit surprised to know that she knew his name. Another laugh passed through his lips. He shifted a little, to face the woman more.

“I suppose it's not so bad, really. It's just... It's annoying. I don't... I don't necessarily agree with my parents, and I haven't really told them yet... It's easier just wandering through the snow for a while, while they're at home. So what's wrong at your place that you're looking to run away so bad?”

[Gone5eva]

Her slim lips drew back into a quiet frown as she gazed at some far-off point lost in the trees. "It's not that life is bad at home..." she explained, turning her blonde head to face the male. "But I don't want to deal with the fighting going on. Mother and father have been tearing into each other because of Harmonia lately. She hasn't been home much, but when she is, it's only to bring home a boy or something. Father screams about how she's acting like mother, and she argues back constantly. I just... Don't want to be there."

Her hands folded in her lap, her gaze glaring down at the pale powder below. A huff, and her countenance turned, grey eyes looking uncomfortably away. "What about you? I'm sure you're doing better at your home. Unless you're just walking around outside for the fucking fun of it?"

Silver eyes softened, and she leaned her face into the frozen powder, exhaling into the piled snow. "My name is Adrestria." she mumbled, her fingers lifting to push away the pile from her face.

[Taggerung]

The girl looked tense, and she sounded even angrier. At least, to him. Maybe it was just a sort of upset kind of mood, but either way, Justin could feel a little guilt crawling at his stomach. He wasn't sure why. There wasn't anything about this girl that he even knew. But it still struck him how much she seemed to feel hurt. Taking a breath in, Justin looked as if he were about to say something, though paused as her looked away. Maybe it was best if he didn't try to comfort her. There were some things that he knew he couldn't say... This was only one of them.

The young man's shoulders shrugged, his head shaking in the chilly air. Honestly, part of him really did like the cold air and the exercise. It had been a little while since he had done anything outside, what with all the damned snow. A small smile came to his face as she offered her own name, a grin coming to him as he held out his own hand to the pretty blonde.

“I'm Justin.”

After her hand was shook, his dropped back onto the cold stone bench they shared. He glanced away nervously, his blue eyes shifting uneasily at the treeline. Eventually, a small sigh passed through him, moving even his shoulders. Drawing his coat a little closer, he shrugged again.

“Well...” Justin started, hesitating a little bit. He had to tell someone, right? He couldn't just keep it a secret forever. After all, what the hell was he going to tell everyone who asked why he was gone from school so suddenly. “I... It's just... Like I said, my father wants me to take over for him. His stupid jewelers business. I don't want to do it, I don't really want to do anything with jewelry. There's nothing wrong with it, but it's his thing. I have no interest in persuading the rich to shiny objects that the Capitol hasn't managed to get their sticky paws on...

I mean... I was training to be a career, and he was proud for a while. I was good at it. But I never wanted to be in the games. What're the chances I'll actually win? Tch, it's better I find something here. After all of the work I did, though, jewelry just seems so... boring.”

He turned to the woman again, a part of him wondering if she was even paying any attention. He felt like he was rambling, and she didn't even know him. Maybe she'd scoff at him, roll her eyes, and walk away. Another breath was drawn in, the young man knowing that he couldn't stop now.

“So I sorta... enrolled into something like... I dunno... The Peacekeeper Academy. Without telling my parents. I can't really face my father right now, so I just sorta stay out here whenever I can. He thinks I'm still just training. I feel guilty.”

[Gone5eva]

Silver eyes turned to gaze at the young man, her gaze searching and inquisitive. Adrestria Jasper could not dream of lying to either of her parents, and the words he struck slapped a chord deep in her chest. She had been lying though. She had stopped training some time ago, and had allowed her muscles to grow slack.

She was sure her father knew- he had this molten look that could burn through steel, and set your soul ablaze. Adrestria knew he would be pleased, but she knew it was for entirely the wrong reasons herself. The blazing hatred she felt for the capitol still ignited deep below her flesh and as she stared at Justin, she imagined him decked in white, wielding a long baton.

She swallowed nervously and turned away.

"Well... It's your choice... Me, I could never hurt people that way. That's why I stopped training. I can't imagine how these people watch the Hunger Games and think it's... Entertainment!"

Her slim form lifted from the bench, her booted feet falling deep into the snow- up to her knees. Adrestria tredged along the ground, creating deep trencehes where she paced. "I mean think about it- we're corraled up like we aren't even human and we just... I can't handle it anymore. There was a time before the dark days where the Hunger Games didn't exist! I want to go back to that! I don't want to spend the rest of my life wondering if my sisters are going to end up trapped, tortured until they die and then..."

She stopped, glaring death at Justin before her gaze relaxed, and her hands unballed from their fisted state. "I just wish you didn't feel like you had to be a peacekeeper."

[Taggerung]

Adrestria looked at him and, for a moment, her eyes looked curious. It made a spark of pride flicker in his chest, and a small smile crossed his face. There was so much guilt about signing up that he just... He wasn't sure it was the right choice anymore. But at the same time... What else was he going to do with his life? He wanted to help people, more than just by them passing and looking at the pretty things in his shop that both themselves and he knew they could never afford.

When her silvery gaze suddenly turned vicious, surprise fell onto Justin's face. Hurt people..? Yeah, some of the peacekeepers were a bit harsh but... Not all of them. Surely she had seen some of the good ones?

“I'm not...” Justin paused as the young woman stood up all of a sudden, waiting silently as she spoke and ranted on. His eyes twitched downwards, his gaze dropping as she talked about them like they were all trapped animals. And honestly, if he were to look around, he would probably agree with her. They were. They were stuck here, inside of these gates, no matter what. But that was the thing; no matter what. It didn't matter what the people did in each individual district. Things would always be the same.

“I'm not like them. I'm not going to turn into someone like that. Why should I? I'm not joining the Peacekeepers to enhance any sort of bullying skills that you think I have,” he said, standing up himself, his eyes not glaring, but holding a firm confidence within them, a conviction that she had helped him to come to as she threw accusations at him (at least, that's what her rant felt like to him).

“I'm not doing this so that I can laugh as people are brought up to the District Square on Reaping Day. I'm doing this so that I can stand up and help. You see a man in uniform kneeling by a girl and you assume he's the one who hurt her. I'm that man in uniform kneeling by a girl, helping her, asking what happened so I can stop whoever did it. I have to be a Peacekeeper. I have to. Do you wanna know why?

“This,” a wide guester with his hand motioned to the area all around them as the wind blew at them, “This is what we've been dealt with. I don't like it any more than you do, but hey, I'm alive for now. It's not a good place to be, let alone great, but damnit, Adrestria, I'm going to do my part to make as much peace as possible. That is what I believe a true Peacekeeper is for.”

[Gone5eva]

"You think you can handle the corruption!?" she spat, her hands flying out of her pockets to either side of her head, gently tugging on her blonde locks. "Justin, or whatever-your-name-is- they'll EAT YOU ALIVE. They rip out your soul, the very core of who you are, and they put something else in!" Her fingers continued to tremble until she gently sighed, and slipped down into the snow.

Since Harmonia had last been home, she and her arents had dealt with the local peacekeepers more than she herself would have liked. "Listen, it's nothing personal, but you're too... You're too nice to be a PK." she explained, her legs crossing in her den of snow.

"Peacekeepers beat the victims even more, and I don't think one lone soul can stop them. I know you think you have to do something to make the world better, but you can't. You by yourself aren't strong enough- the mob mentailty will beat you every single time Justin. I'm sorry, but I don't like what you're doing one bit. We can still be friends, but... I don't support the capitol, and I don't support the crooked lawmakers around here."

There. Everything seemed to be laid out upon the table now, free for him to see. "I'm... I'm really sorry..."

[Taggerung]

says thinks underlined text

As the young woman yelled, Justin's blue eyes couldn't help but narrow. He bristled at her, his shoulders slumping forward as he glared at her. There was a part of himself, deep down, that understood why she was saying it; most of it was true, for a lot of the men and women who went into the Peacekeeper Academy, who went off to join them in hopes of doing some sort of good. But there was a difference between them and him – he believed that he could do more than any of them, because he wasn't going to do it stupidly. He had a plan of action, one that required him to stay here, not get shipped off to the capitol for training. Well, no more than was mandatory, anyway.

Turning away from the raging girl, he straightened up, attempting to brush off her anger as his arms crossed over his chest. Shaking his head, the young male said back to her, “You can't know that. You don't even know me. How can you tell me you know what'll happen to me if you don't have any clue about how I was before? It's not like you ever came to talk to me in the halls, or in class, or went out of your way to so much as say hi. I'm nice to you now because I thought you'd be a nice person to befriend.

Y'know what? Maybe I was wrong. Apparently, being brave isn't what you're after. I know that I'm not going to change the world. Hell, I doubt that I'll even change the District. But damn it all, I want to try. You don't like that, then by all means. Go fucking hide in your corner.”

Turning back to glare at her as he finished his last sentence, he saw that she was just sort of flopped in the snow. A wave of compassion seemed to sweep over him, and despite himself, letting his anger drop away. The roiling storm within had just seemed to disappear. Sighing, Justin stepped forward, shaking his head.

“Look...” he mumbled gently, offering a hand to the girl in the snow, wanting to help her out and to someplace warmer, “I just... Not everyone's going to agree with it. I get that. You don't know me, you can't know what I'm like, you don't know what I can do. I understand that. But would you really judge me so badly because I want to join something to help people? What about all those rebels that send kids into the games to make statements? They're just as bad, but people seem to love them for it...”

[Gone5eva]

Her gaze narrowed at him, and she slithered up from her seat in the snow using his hand as leverage. "I came out here to be alone, not to have my faulty viewpoint so graciously torn apart by a stranger." she snapped, her own frustration growing in her chest.

"I think I'm done for the day. I'm gonna go home and make sure my youngest sister isn't getting into anything, alright? You get home safe. you little shit" She passed Justin, gently knocking away his shoulder with her arm as she left, her footprints leaving heavy marks in the powdery snow.

[Taggerung]

_{And dis rp is FIN.}

says thinks underlined text

Sighing, Justin turned to watch her go, a mixture of feelings rumbling around inside of his chest. He felt bad. But at the same time, he felt like she was the one who had been trying to insult him, trying to tell him that he was wrong. He moved with her as she bumped into him, scowling at the woman.

“Yeah, because you didn't just take my life's goals and shred them apart,” he called after her, frustration welling up inside of him.

That... That stupid... That...

“Argh...”