Starlight // Geebs

[charade]

It was dusk and Sebastian stared at the stars in the darkening sky as each pinprick of light winked into existence.

As usual, he was in a brooding mood. The annual games had a tendency to push his thoughts into stranger territory than his normal fare.

Life and death were such heavy concepts when it came to thinking about his gang.

The only problem was that they weren’t much of a gang anymore. There was five of them. And Sebastian had to admit to himself that they weren’t really a threat. When was the last time they had, as a whole, gotten up to mischief? Sure, Sebastian beat the tar out of redheads waving sticks every now and then and he was sure that dumb and dumber had something to do with the drop in wanderers around their campsite, but was that really gang activity? They all stole food when they needed to. Even Kovu probably did. No, in the time following Sebastian’s little coup, they hadn’t done much of anything except die.

Not the ones that were still alive of course, but that Vitani girl hadn’t lasted long. Akasha either. Both had gone into the games and had never come back. The same fate had almost befallen Zanita’s adopted brother last year. But then some pasty faced beanpole had decided to intervene and not only saved Kovu from dying an embarrassing death but had gone on to survive the arena and come back to district nine.

Good for the beanpole. District nine had been needing a victor.

What had really impressed Sebastian though, was how said beanpole had been willing to volunteer for a homeless kid that was a complete stranger.

In a heartbeat.

Sebastian would have done the same.

For Kovu’s benefit, not so much.

But Zanita?

If she had been reaped, Sebastian would have volunteered to go in with her faster than it took her name to be called.

He would have taken Kovu’s place to spare her the grief too if Colgate hadn’t been so quick.

But that still probably would have made Zanita tear her hair out.

And so Sebastian had been thinking. Hard. That maybe it was time for something drastic.

Maybe even life-changing.

Keeping that in mind, He was waiting for Zanita by the spot they had first met.

Or rather, the spot where he had told her he’d destroy everything she loved if she didn’t give him control of her gang’s campground.

It all seemed so long ago.

Back then he would have scoffed at anyone who claimed that he’d fall into the very category he had threatened to take away.

Pacing back and forth for a bit,  he wondered if she understood the significance of the spot.

At any rate he hoped she’d arrive soon. He had a lot of things on his mind that he needed to discuss.

[sbeeg]

Zanita Luzell

Another Games had taken over the country bringing with it the dark cloud of death hanging over its citizens. As long as the screens in the district square flashed the faces of young children in the Arena no one would be truly happy. Then again were people truly happy the rest of the year? Zanita Luzell was feeling pretty upbeat this year, but she was keeping it mostly to herself. If someone saw her smile they might try to become her friend, or, god forbid, think she was nice. Despite the dwindling numbers of her tribe and the general crap mood everyone in District Nine tends to be in, Zanita had a little glow to her. With the victory of Colgate O'Leary the entire District was awarded extra food and the girl could see the differences in her body because of it. Instead of just skin stretched over bone, there was some softness to her now.

The girl had come to respect the name of O'Leary. For a boy whom she had spoken to once he had done a great service to her. Besides the food, he had volunteered for Kovu during the Reaping which is a miracle within itself.

Although her hips may be softer, her personality was not. When a member of their tiny little gang spoke ill of her, or Sebastian, or even Colgate O'Leary she was quick to threaten them and remind them who they were talking about.

Speaking of Sebastian, the boy was his usual moody self but with an extra touch of gloom. She realized their situation wasn't the best a person could have- living in canvas tents in the woods and eating scraps of anything they could steal. Zanita had never really known any other kind of life besides the one of a street rat so this was normal. She knew Seb had big ideas and plans for the future and while they sounded grand they weren't going to happen. The girl was happy sleeping on a dirt floor as long as he was beside her.

Walking back from the Square (she wanted to see how the District Nine tributes were doing. After that extra taste of food last year, she was really hoping for another one), she took her time peeking into alleyways seeing if there was anything worth taking. Same as yesterday and the day before, nothing much.

Stepping through the bushes on bare feet, Zanita entered a little clearing and saw Sebastian waiting for her.

"Shouldn't you be holding down the camp?" she asked, tilting her head the direction the ragged circle of tents should be. Zanita preferred for there to be at least one of them at the camp to keep the others from doing anything ridiculously stupid. Did Kovu piss him off again? She may have been thankful for Colgate volunteering for her little brother but the boy caused the lion's share of trouble in the camp. "Is it Kovu, again?"

[charade]

It was just like her to think it was her brother. Then again, it usually was, so it was probably habit more than anything to assume that. Sebastian chuckled softly as he continued pacing. "No, no its not him. I've just been having these ideas. I've been doing stuff Zanita. And things."

He didn't feel like going into detail just yet, but some of the stuff and things he meant was the fact that he'd started trying to garden about a half mile away from the camp. The idea came to him several weeks past,when he had seen that several fruits and vegetables were once again adoring the few grocery stores in the district. It was the right season for them. And so he had thought, why not try to grow his own? If the people in district eleven could do it, how hard could it really be? After waiting around a few days for the old produce to be thrown out, he had scavenged some and dug the seeds out of the rot. Those same seeds were now sprouting in his secret place.

But why was he even thinking about renewable food sources in the first place? Family. They weren't much, but dammit, they were all he had, and nothing was going to take them from him, not the games, not starvation, not the peacekeepers,nothing. It took seeing the fear in Zanita's eyes when Kovu's name was called for him to come to terms with it, but he cared more than he would have thought he was supposed to."We've been together for some time now. Hell if I know when our birthdays are, I just know time passes because of the games. And well, Kovu almost bought it the way the other girls in our gang did and..."

He stopped pacing, unsure of where he was going with his rambling, opting to stand still and stare at Zanita instead. Her eyes, her eyes he could get lost in; he had many times before.  The playfulness that curved the corner of her lips up or the way that her eyebrows raised when they were arguing. "The world is a fucked up place and well, you make it suck a lot less."

There, he had said it. And yet, he hadn't really gotten around to what he was trying to say.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is..."

Sebastian paused as he bent one knee, taking a small golden circle out of his a frayed pocket. It was a cheap thing, something he had found while digging through the compost heap for seeds. He could only imagine that whoever it belonged to hadn't meant to lose it when they were throwing out the vegetables. Oh well. Their loss, his gain, and anybody who thought differently could die screaming in a hole.  "Zanita," he said with a breath he didn't know he was holding in."Will you...marry me and all that shit?"

He held the trinket out to her and he waited. Was this what he wanted?  Yes, a thousand times yes, nothing would make him happier than to affirm the fact that (even though they were never going to get it done properly,) he wanted, no needed to show that he was never, ever going to leave her side. If he was going to conquer the world or make something of himself someday he needed her to be right there with him. 

[sbeeg]

Zanita Luzell

As a rule Sebastian Rothul was not the kind of man you hear chuckling unless it means your imminent demise. Considering their history, Zanita was one of the few people who had been able to see him smile or laugh from true happiness. It was a rare occasion, just as it was with herself, so she knew how to appreciate the moments when they happened.

It was a relief to know that Kovu hadn't fucked up again, but she was curious as to why exactly he had been waiting for her. It was dangerously hot outside and she figured any casual conversation could happen in the shade instead of a clearing that was framed by thorny bushes. However Zanita didn't rush him, if Sebastian was using words like "stuff" and "things" it meant he was nervous. Any other time there would have been a long speech dotted with words that had a Capitol price tag.

Whatever Seb was trying to say he was having a hard time with it which for him was a pretty odd occurrence. Normally, Zanita might have waved it off for until later or picked at his nervous ticks but something told her to just stand there and let him work out whatever was on his mind.

"The world is a fucked up place and well, you make it suck a lot less." A smile crept across her lips as the words left his lips. That was probably the best compliment Zanita had ever received. People will spout fanciful language just to get in your pants for one night but something simpler was more her style. Of course they both knew that already.

Truthfully, Zanita thought that Seb was just having a sentimental moment and it'd end with a kiss and a rarely sighted blush across both of their cheeks. Instead of sweeping in for a hug or a punch in the arm, the boy lowered one knee into the dirt. The posture made the girl stop, she had seen that pose before on the screen in the District Square. She had heard it described in books people read aloud, but never in a million years did Zanita Luzell think someone would be doing it in front of her.

Seb fumbled in his pocket before presenting a tiny thing that caught the sun's rays and spread them back out across the clearing. "Zanita... Will you...marry me and all that shit?"

Stunned. That was probably the best word to describe the Luzell girl in that moment. Stunned or in awe, shocked would work too but she wasn't one for fancy descriptions or a thousand words that all meant the same thing. Despite being somewhat attractive, Zanita never imagined that anyone would propose something as permanent as marriage to her. People often found her coarse personality unlikable and men specifically didn't care for her territorial attitude when it came to her tribe. Hell, Sebastian hadn't like it when they had first met. Of course two ambitious people being thrown together over one shabby campsite will produce sparks. In fact, it was in this clearing that he had... threatened. It was hard to imagine the man in front of her threatening her now.

Among the circle of people Zanita knew marriage was not prevalent. The poor and unwanted of the District kept to themselves and made have flings but most of the time they worked alone. If they partnered with someone else it was usually out of necessity and dissolved once the situation changed. Marriage was so final, and when you're talking about people who camp out in the woods and have to ready to run in case Keepers get fed up with the mess it was no easy thing to consider.

With Zanita it came down to trust. You only tied yourself to another person if you completely and utterly trusted them. There were few people she had that kind of faith in. If anything, their rocky start made Zanita trust Seb more because she knew exactly what he was capable of. You don't know a person until you've seen the darkest side of them, and Zanita and Seb definitely knew one another.

Before she had met Seb it was just her and Kovu and as her younger brother explored the world by himself and it was becoming more and more of just her alone. While she never thought anything was wrong with that it wasn't until she was with Seb everyday that she realized that even one night without his warmth beside her was torture. She had come to rely on him and, dare she say it, trust him. While her first impression of him was a complete ass she figured that was usually other's first judgement of her. You could say they were made for one another that way. She always figured they would stick together for a long time but this would make it official.

She had to glance at the ground for a moment to put her thoughts together. Zanita had refused to even say his name the first months she knew him and now she'd have his name. She had to laugh at the irony of it all. Looking back up at the man still kneeling in front of her, she laughed before nodding.

"Yes," how silly a single word can change one's world so drastically. "Yes I will, Sebastian."

[charade]

And just like that, Sebastian's world changed forever. They would be at each others sides forever now. Part of him couldn't believe that she had said yes, but the very fiber of his being yearned to hold her tight and never let go. Slipping the ring onto her finger felt right in way that he wasn't able to verbalize. It just was. Sebastian's chest felt lighter than air as he stood back up, and before he knew it, he had wrapped her in his arms, picking her up off of her feet and spinning her in a half circle before putting her down and planting his lips on hers.

The kiss was deep and spoke of a hundred different memories; huddling for warmth in the winters, patching each other up after fights with other gangs. Foraging for clothes, food and everything else that they owned. Long talks in the dead of night, staring up at the starlit sky and wondering about a million different things. Sometimes things that didn't need to be thought about, like what would happen if one of them were to get reaped. Or if the peacekeepers would round them up one day. And of course, trying not to wonder how how exactly the brothers kept themselves fed. That was nightmare fuel up there with thinking about his old life.

He broke the embrace when he felt that it had gone on long enough and grinned, drinking in the look in her eyes like he was dying of thirst. "Guess that makes you my queen. Now all we need is the castle." Images fluttered through his mind unbidden, of a boy not much older than himself deciding who could stay and who would go. Of being back on the streets after he thought he had found someplace new. Emotions stirred in his mind but he squashed them and focused on the girl who had said yes,his own eyes alight with mischief and something more. "It's high time that we take what's rightfully ours." Some part of himself deep inside chuckled darkly as he thought about that. There was always going to be a reckoning for what they did to him and his pack. "Gather the others. We have a wedding to plan and then work to do."