t i r e d boy ☆ justice interview

[Deleted]

S A R D O N Y X  C  R  O  W  E  ;

"You look gorgeous, tonight."

The lights are bright, my hand stinging from the air after releasing Samson's -- "good luck, ma." I wait for the cue; I hold my breath and stare at the moon. Somebody hands me water, "one minute mark, Miss Crowe,"

"Thank you," I smile. Flashing teeth behind my plum lips, "you stay hydrated, too."

After eleven years, I shouldn't be so nervous, huh? I should be use to this, swallowing in nervousness and waiting. I can't feel Selene, somewhere in the air or something, she's usually here. Or something, a hint of something but I'm fine -- I have Samson, and that's enough for me. 

"Miss Crowe, you ready?" 

---

"Heeeeeeeeeeello, ladies and gentlemen!" 

I take the first step, with the power of goddesses in my sole; smile and grins, there's capitolite clapping. The bunch of them beautiful enough to make my smile genuine every night -- a laugh slips from my lips only because I can't stop it. "Welcome to The Crowe's Nest," waving to the audience and holding my other hand on my hips.

"Asssssss alwayswe'vegotagreat nightplanned for you guys--" One breath, a drawl in the words and the crowd laughs -- a pure audience is the easiest to make laugh. I have their full attention; besides they paid for it. My dress hugs my frame just as nicely when I take my seat on stage, my diamond ear piece itchy but hey, that's fashion. "First off," I hold my breath, staring the crowd in the face and inhaling -- "Guest star, Capitolzine's Bad Boy of the Year and more importantly, the victor of the seh-ven-tea third hun-ger games."

Silence.

"Mr. Justice Fray!"

[ coding: izoe ]

[brad bradford ★ d5b [arx]]

JUSTICE
FRAY

I've never been much good at anything. But entertainment? Personality? A good show? That's all I've ever known.

That's why I can't wait to sit across from one of the best last night hosts in all of Panem. She's only a few years older than me, but she's got the talent of someone who has been in the business for nearly twenty years. If I could be anyone, I'd want to be her. Bold, bodacious, beautiful—she really is the whole package, complete with talent, professionalism, and showmanship.

And I get to perform right alongside her. It takes every bit of self-control I have not to rush on stage and ask her about her about her outfit.

I listen to her rousing introduction with a genuine smile on my face as my make-up artists give me one last once over and a thumbs up. I grin as I stand at the edge of the stage. There is a pause—"Mr. Justice Fray!"—and then the oh so beautiful roar of the crowd as I take my first steps across the polished stage. I snatch a rose from the vase sitting backstage. I blow a kiss into the crowd and give a devilish grin as a few girls eagerly reach to snatch the bit of affection from the air and hold it to their chests.

"Miss Crowe," I say, bowing a bit as I offer her the single red rose. "Unlike Miss Persimmon, I know when to offer a beautiful woman a rose."

The laughter from the crowd brings a genuine smile to my face.

I was born for this.

[   v i c t o r y   ]

[Deleted]

S A R D O N Y X  C  R  O  W  E  ;

We lock eyes for a second -- "Mr. Justice Fray!" 

Let the show begin; I feel it in my veins. The blood circulating in my body, that of my own soul whispering to me -- you'll do great. That this is what I'm here for, Ripred's plan for me. The crowd roars, never have I had such a guest as Justice: handsome, loved and talented, a victor. Not the first victor on, but the first of him. 

"Miss Crowe," I'll be fine, my soul whispers to me. 

I feel Selene watching me, something spiritual connecting me to the very floor I'm on. The applause, Justice's walk onto the stage, the cue from the ear piece --

"Unlike Miss Persimmon, I know when to offer a beautiful woman a rose."

We'll do fine.

"Awe, shush you," I take the flower warmly, wrapping my hands around his like a mother does; as if it's Samson sitting in front of me. "Beautiful woman!" A toothful grin, flashing every opal I have in my mouth as I flip hair past my shoulder, grazing my eye contact from him to the audience, "don't make me sound old," a genuine smile. A casual laugh. 

A guest with personality - the audience laughs, whole - thank the lord.  

"Besides, you probably say that to every girl on the victory tour; huh, Mr. Fray?" the audience hisses. A small roast for a heartthrob, but he's a big boy. I give it time to breathe, holding eye contact with Mr. Fray -- everybody loves a fuckboy, except for a mother. But it's all playful, I smile like I could eat him whole. 

And I could. 

Why not tell us about the tour, a nod -- let's get this interview started.

[ coding: izoe ]

 

[brad bradford ★ d5b [arx]]

JUSTICE
FRAY

She wraps her hands around mine and I feel the genuine warmth behind it. So her warm personality isn’t just an act, but something expertly stitched to her heart—it reaches her eyes and I know it’s going to fine. I could fall off the front of the stage and lose my other leg and she’d still somehow manage to make this interview a successful one. So even if I don’t got this--

“Don’t make me sound old.”

--she’s definitely got this.

As the laughter from the audience begins to die down I sit back in my chair, careful to make sure that the metal contraption connected to what’s left of my thigh isn’t sitting awkwardly. Can’t have everyone in Panem thinking I’m too incompetent to even manage my own limbs. Besides--

I grin at the audience, run my fingers through my hair and wink at a few girls closest to the stage.

I’ve got an image to uphold.

“Besides, you probably say that to every girl on the victory tour; huh, Mr. Fray?”

The hiss of the crowd doesn’t keep me from smiling. I nod, run my tongue along the inside of my cheek. I suppose this is karma for coming at Katelyn right from the get go. But I don’t mind. It’s all fun and games here at the Capitol, right?

She looks at me intently and I can just feel her eyes begging me to say something interesting, witty, flirtatious—anything.

"Actually, Opal kept me on a pretty tight leash," I say, raising my eyebrows. "And not the kinky kind, mind you."

I smile with the crowd.

"But as you can see," I say pretending to look backstage. "No more leash."

I glance into the crowd and raise my eyebrows.

"I'd say I've got time for a few dates with the most beautiful girls in all of Panem."

[   v i c t o r y   ]

[Deleted]

S A R D O N Y X  C  R  O  W  E  ;

Tongue in cheek, my hands warm, a mother saves any soul -- a lion saves their own.

I've always been to much of a coward. My soul grins with my whole body, the audience eating up every single line, and the interview hasn't even started yet. Good. "Actually, Opal kept me on a pretty tight leash," a good plug, good. The word in my teeth; my first daughter. A child of water and air, a child of my own heart's blood, it's her tenth anniversary. The day on my watch until the reunion, the victor speech, her motherly figure in warm satin of my own threads. 

She likes Mr. Fray, right? 
He can't be that bad then. 

"And not the kinky kind, mind you."

Hmm. 

Interesting. 

Wide eyes, smiling and staring in Justice's soul -- cut it there. I hold breath in my throat; oh boy. "But as you can see," he gestures eyes to the back stage, across from my eyes.

"No more leash," you better find it, Fray. 

You better find it real fast. 

I play it off; if you weren't Justice Fray catching the stare of death and it freezing your entire soul, then you'd never notice. Samson watches this show, I need at least a little moderation. But the audience loves it, wooing and quivering, maybe it's just a mother's concern. 

"I'd say I've got time for a few dates with the most beautiful girls in all of Panem."


Pressing, gently, a little thing for the audience -- "aight Fray," -- they'll eat it up. And I'll trust Justice enough to "keep it family friendly, now." I laugh a little, a moan and a boo from the audience, but hey, modern day broadcasting has its limits. 

"But how was touring with Opal -- y'all looked stunning!" I flip my hair; a stylist picks out every piece of clothing they wear upon that stage, and still can't step a foot into that lighting. Oh well, " was it everything a career thought it'd be?"

[ coding: izoe ]

 

[brad bradford ★ d5b [arx]]

JUSTICE
FRAY

"Aight Fray, keep it family friendly."

There is the slightest protest from the crowd, but she's right. I grin like a child who's been caught with his hand in the cookie jar and sit back in my seat. I could get used to this interview thing.

"Ah yes, my apologies."

She laughs lightheartedly as the crowd begins to quiet down again. She shifts in her seat, tosses her hair over her shoulder. And in the crowd I can feel the anticipation, the same pause before I had stepped on stage surrounds me now. The lights are bright and hot. The

"But how was touring with Opal -- y'all looked stunning!"

A few cheers and some clapping, a single catcall from the back of the crowd. I lick my lips and bite my tongue, my head spinning trying to remember what either of us wore or were doing that made us look so... "stunning!" But all I can recall is the burn of alcohol in my throat.

"Was it everything a career thought it'd be?"

I remember watching Opal bend over her late husband's grave to say goodbye. I remember looking into the eyes of the families whose children I had killed. I remember my head dipping into the toilet as vile spewed from my stomach. I remember girls without names and strangers without stories. And I remember looking in the mirror and whispering—'You're supposed to be someone new, you stupid prick.'—before blacking out on the bathroom floor almost every night.

"Everything and more," I say with a smile. "Obviously I feel for the families whose children sacrificed themselves so that I could be here talking with all of you, but--" I nod thoughtfully, take pause for the camera. I'm sure the light is catching my eyes just right. "--it's so much fun being a victor!"

I bounce in my seat at the small rouse of the crowd, run my fingers through my hair. I look to Miss Crowe with a chuckle and swing my gaze from her to the crowd and back.

"You wouldn't think it looking at all the grumpy victors around this place--" I fake a hushed cough conveniently into my mic with a muffled—"Arbor."—hidden within.

I grin deviously and pause to let the crowd laugh before feigning another cough, this time letting the name—"Patricia."—slip free.

More laughter, more smiles.

"But I promise all of you I couldn't ask for a more lavish life."

I shrug my shoulders and wait patiently with a smile plastered on my face for some other question. Hopefully one I won't have to lie about.

[   v i c t o r y   ]