Blue Sky Revolution {Dars|VT}

[Tom]

Blue. The color of the skies that he had gotten so used to through the game of life and death. Blue skies that move ever so gently with the wind begin to fill with clouds of white and grey. Autumn was coming in with orange, brown, and red leaves that spread over the ground and trees. Snow would come in the next few months, but he's fine with the sweater that he wears as they announce him as victor of the 76th games like it meant something to all of District Ten. Mace Emberstatt, Ansgar Todd, and Saffron Lowe were all there. Everyone knew who Mace was, including Teddy Ursa who could remember some of the things that he's seen on the screens back in District Six.

Saffron Lowe and him had a rough situation that they were working through, but it'd be figured out, at least he hoped so. Emberly Lowe had asked him to deliver a koala to Kiara and if he wasn't allowed around her, then that'd break the promise that he had made to Emberly. This was her last request and he would give it to her. Eyes scan the crowd, until they break away from it all. The feeling of pressure on his chest dissipates with the sound of footsteps. There's all of Emberly's sisters there in the crowd, watching him. A guy who had to be related to Rory stood in the back where Teddy barely got a glimpse of him.

They broke apart as soon as the thing ended. Peacekeepers leading him back inside to whatever they wanted him to do. He was definitely removing the tie that was under his sweater. The thing felt like a weight upon his heart as he stares out a window to the District. This was where Rory lived. Emberly had taken care of animals in the district like he did with people. Did Emberly ever walk down that road? Did Rory ever go into that shop? Were they in the same place that they waited in? Had Emberly and her sisters run around the District doing simple things that many would forget about? All he could see was a pool of Emberly and Rory that hides in every crevice of the district before him.

He needed a drink. That's all that he could process, even though he didn't enjoy alcohol.

Instead they get him tea because it's better for him and he needed to be coherent for the time that he was in District Ten for. Everyone knew it, especially since he would be facing the Lowes head on with their broken hearts. Tears that would come from their eyes or angry words that'd tear him apart, all he could do was take a sip of the tea.

There's a second of silence as he closes his eyes for what feels like the first time. Air fills his lungs as he lets it out. A small comfort hits his chest, but the lump in his throat doesn't go down. It's always going to reside there with the wish that Emberly Lowe could have lived with him, but in their world. Only one could survive and Teddy needed it more. Death had played a game of suffering, making him the last one standing. They were with him, like the little koala that resides next to him. Ring crawling up on the chair with a yawn as he rubs the grey koala's head.

The door opens to Kieran Emberstatt, Mace's kid who had been on stage near him. The capitol knew of the boy, just like everyone else. He was a celebrity amongst the people of ten. All Teddy could do was flash a smile, hold out the kettle of tea as he speaks calmly with friendly words.

"Would you like to join me?"

There's a nervous feeling in his chest that Kieran is gonna smack the kettle from his hands, angry for ten. The image of hot tea falling all over him fills his mind, but he still keeps the friendly smile that he could muster up on his face. He moves the kettle and pours tea into a cup anyways, even if Kieran didn't want it, someone would have it. There's a small second of quiet in Teddy's mind, but the nervousness comes back with only a glance.

Blue skies revolve around them, but Teddy could feel his heart beating.

There's a fear inside of him.

The fear that District Ten will hate him.

He deserved it.

After all his hands were still coated in crimson.

[umber vivuus 12b 🥀 [dars]]

k i e r a n e m b e r s t a t t
► ► ►
❝let it all come crashing down
burn the castle to the ground ❞

Paige didn't like for people to see her cry, so every time she felt the urge, she would retire to the bathroom, or the hallway closets, or, if Kieran's balcony was an option, she would even crawl through his window, pull her knees up to her chest, and allow the tears to fall where no one could see them.

He understood, but didn't. He was close with Eden, but wasn't. Should've been closer— could've been closer. And Kieran imagined, for Paige, it was only worse because they shared blood and a surname and Paige had only just started calling Emberly family before everything went up in flames.

Things had a bad habit of nestling themselves in the cracks of a person's rib cage, getting comfortable, and exploding when things seemed too easy, didn't they?

He kissed her on the forehead, closed her bedroom door behind him while she attempted to sleep.

"I love you," he whispered to himself, wishing there were something he could do.

His back hit the wall and he slid to the ground, hands in hair, eyes shut tight. He hated himself for opening her up, for forcing her to feel the always fickle pleasantries of Panem, and he hated how he had given her hope just in time for it to be ripped from her fingers as she pulled herself up from the cliff side by it.

Doorbell.

Probably some nosey citizen of Ten looking to drape false remorse on anything willing to sit still long enough. His father had taken Saffron and the kids out for ice cream, because try as he might, emotions were still a minefield for him, and food always filled the gaps left by the words he fumbled out in his southern drawl. Just Kieran, just Paige. Weather said clear skies, but it felt like rain.

He opened the door with a somewhat sour expression. Of all the odd customs he'd learned about when he moved to Ten, the hospitality had seemed the most foreign. No one had come to Uncle Arbor's and apologized for Brendan's death, or baked his mother a pie because they heard she had gotten sick. In Twelve, it was everyone for themselves, and maybe this was supposed to be better, but Kieran only felt as if attempts like these were ways for people to mind business that was not theirs to mind.

"Oh," he said, his gaze meeting his Aunt Regalia's, "It's just you." Probably came to clean up, or cook. She liked to cook when she was stressed. "Hey, can you keep an eye on Paige? She's napping upstairs, but I just—" She grabbed him by the shoulder, quiet smile telling him she understood.

"I'll be back."

He walked along the fence line, grass and dust and ranch animals and birds. It was unfair, how sunny the day was. It was unfair that everything got to just keep on living, even when some people felt like dying. But Kieran had to learn the blatant truths of life on his own, with knuckles pale from the pressure of clenched fists, and eyes watering out of anger. He was learning how the world worked at a break neck pace, and his father had always said he was ahead of the learning curve. Maybe he was right.

Crunches of dirt beneath his feet became scuffs of cement, click clacking his way through the Square, one destination in mind. Open doors, closed ones, no one seemed to realize his family was falling apart, even if he himself was not. Or maybe he was because they were. Or maybe— fuck, whatever.

He knocked before opening the door.

Teddy Ursa, bloody boy with hands made for murder stood in front of him with a porcelain tea kettle. Odd sight, he thought, something so dangerous holding something so perfectly breakable. To be fair, he'd only done what was asked of him. The light shined through the window of the train car and into his mousy curls, gentle smile.

Kieran had hoped for more of a monster.

"Would you like to join me?" the victor asked, holding up the kettle and pouring Kieran a cup. He bit his bottom lip to keep from grinding his teeth.

"I didn't get to speak to you at the Presentation," he said dryly, looking at his reflection in the mirror and fixing the stray strands of his hair.

"Thought I'd show you some good old southern hospitality."

He stared at his reflection for a moment longer, before sitting across from the boy and propping his foot up on his other knee. A moment of silence followed, and Kieran couldn't help the thoughts of Saffron's face when Emberly died, or how soaked his shirt was when Paige cried into it the first time, or how drunk Clementa stayed.

"Does it keep you up at night?" He asked, picking up the cup and tipping it back, pinky up. Proper manners, for some reason. "Or do you sleep well knowing you've killed for that crown on your head?"

[Tom]

Star had told him that tea was popular in the capitol. A soothing hot drink that's meant to calm the mind from the problems of the day. Except when he sips from the cup all he can feel is the heat hiding in his chest like a pain that doesn't go away. Or the feeling was of guilt as he knew that death was upon his hands. A cruel crimson glow as districts cry from his golden spear. The memory of the gleam turning into a reminder of the golden heart that he had taken away from the world that he could never give them back. Blue skies that revolt against Theodore Ursa as he remembers the tears that he had shed as he left her body for the sunset's rays. Koalas following him with sorrows in their eyes. He could remember it like it was yesterday, but he's seen more sunsets than Emberly Lowe would ever see. And that's what pained him the most.

"I didn't get to speak to you at the Presentation,"

His voice is dry as the heat from the tea reminds Teddy of the lava that had flowed behind him and lightly burned his skin. Instead of taking another sip, he places the tea in front of him, focusing on Kieran Emberstatt. Teddy's smile faltering with every word Kieran speaks into the air. They don't stop there as Teddy listens to him, calmly and collected, because it's the only reaction he's able to have. Too many tears were shed before he had even gotten to District Ten and more would be shed before the end of his visit.

"Thought I'd show you some good old southern hospitality."

The male sits across from him as Teddy moves Kieran's cup towards him with a small smile, but it falls as he can tell what this was going to be about. The news of District Ten in general was going to be about Rory or Emberly. Kieran had more ties to Emberly than Rory, so it only made sense that he'd be there to talk about how it feels to carry crimson on his hands. No matter how hard Teddy scrubs his hands, the image never goes away. No matter how hard he tries to remember the good parts, only the bloody end comes to his mind. All he can do is watch Kieran as the room goes silent. Teddy's holding in a breath until the words come out of Kieran's mouth like the blades that Lux cut into his skin.

"Does it keep you up at night?" His cup tipping back as Kieran holds it gently in his hands. There's a moment where teddy can feel his heartbeat in his chest as he knew the question would come up. He deserved it. He deserved whatever pain would come from District Ten. The reminder of the terrible deed that he had done to them. Leaving Rory behind because Wendell Gordon was too much for them. Killing Emberly with his own spear that glittered gold like a glittering sunset that she got to see one last time. "Or do you sleep well knowing you've killed for that crown on your head?"

Sleep. The word sounds foreign to him. Sleeping became harder when all he could see were the terrible words from Lux Pelotte's lips, Emberly's tears and anger as she saw Ree's weapon that belonged to him, and Ree Fer's clarification that he's been called the worse of things. Blood was another image that always came in his sleep. Red crimson that stains his skin. Chester's last look before leaving haunts his nights and keeps him up night after night. Rory's angry words to Wendell and the body that Teddy and Chester left behind hide in the shadows of his mind. Wendell's name for Teddy before he cuts off his leg hides deep within. Raquel's words of finding a reason to get home. Cam's words of telling him not to see District Five like it would stop him from it. He didn't get sleep ever. When he did, it was because he was exhausted from lack of it. Passing out to only a black vision in front of his eyes for a restless night of sleep.

"No." Honesty falling from his lips as his arms cross his chest and he looks past Kieran Emberstatt in front of him. Eyes glancing to the door that he had come from. Mind focusing hard onto the way Emberly's hair flowed around the waterfall that surrounded them. The way she reminded him of everything that he's faced throughout his time in the arena. Two forces of good that had to clash, until Teddy tore his emotions apart, cutting her open and letting her die slowly. Letting her watch her last sunset as he wiped tears from his eyes. All he wanted was to cry, but he's tired of crying. "I don't sleep well with what I've done."

Eyes meet Kieran's face as he watches the other male that had ties to the Lowes. Teddy's heart beats as he thinks about the things that Kieran or any of the Lowes would want to do to him. This is what he deserved in the end of it all. He deserved to suffer for taking her life. There's a choked breath as he Teddy lets out a sigh, lifting the warm cup of tea to his lips. The warmth adding to the discomfort, but reminding him that he's still living and breathing. All he could do was watch Kieran as he frowns at the thought.

"I would have thought that you'd know this already with your father and all that he's been through."

[umber vivuus 12b 🥀 [dars]]

k i e r a n e m b e r s t a t t
► ► ►
❝there's a whisper in my bones
keeping me restless and whole ❞

His light was in danger of flickering out; Kieran was the gust of wind trying to finish the job. Fifteen years under a spotlight was its own version of Capitol torture, but he had learned some things from it. Secrets, and how to get them. He had learned how to threaten a man without being so callous as saying the words out loud. He had learned how to manipulate and taunt and tease, and give the Capitol the version of the stupid little golden child that they all wanted.

"No," Teddy admitted, "I don't sleep well with what I've done."

Kieran watched him with careful eyes. It would have been so easy to break him. Fragile, like fine china or a man's ego. Just the slightest bit of pressure, and Teddy Ursa would certainly crack and shatter, and Kieran could have done it. He could have. But looking at him, at the memories that surely still haunted him, at the ghosts of a most bitter yesterday, Kieran hesitated.

So, he was not a monster. Fine. But Kieran still didn't have to like him, or forgive him. And maybe that made him smaller, or maybe it was a testament to what adults always loved to say to him— "You're only fifteen." Politics were timeless.

"I would have thought that you'd know this already with your father and all that he's been through."

Thin ice.

"You don't really know my dad, I'm afraid." Or anyone in District Ten. He didn't know Emberly, either. Not really. Hell, Kieran himself barely knew Emberly. Teddy knew what the Capitol wanted him to know of Emberly, knew what they made him believe.

"Emberly's sister, Kiara- she still sleeps," Kieran went on, "Just usually ends in nightmares and screaming. She thinks monsters are coming for her. Wanna guess who those monsters are?" Pleasant smile on his face. Anger and bitterness— he couldn't help himself. Not this soon. Not after everything they had been through. His dad, Elon, Saffron, Myara, Ophelia, Emberly— how long until the Capitol stopped punishing their family? How long until President Snow was satisfied with himself? Would Paige have to die first?

Would Kieran?

"It's you," he said, all nonchalant and apathetic and distant. His eyes glistened with fear and resentment, but he forced the smile to remain.

"You're the bad guy in her story."