must not look away [ele]

[ryan]

Maybe he could have taken his time with everything lately. Isaiah had been hard on him lately, mostly because Ridley Le Roux had come back a winner, something that none of the Le Roux’s had seen coming. She was known as the pariah of the family. Her blood soiled and rotten. It did not drip gold like theirs, or Isaac’s for that matter, but he did not care about that. What Isaac valued was her brain. Her tactics in battle. Her selflessness for realizing that she did not need this family in order to feel important, or even loved.

Isaac would always be proud of his cousin for proving that she could do anything, but his father was a whole different story. His father had always been competitive, and while he never showed it in front of them, he had a special way of hiding it. Isaac noticed it when extra books were slipped into his stack throughout the night. None of them were the usual suspect, most of them filled with different fighting techniques that he could use in order to overpower someone that was twice the size of him. Isaac read them, but only because he usually did what his father asked of him. The last thing that he needed was to feel the wrath of a fellow Le Roux after all. It was enough that one of them had already done so, a picture of Ridley passes through his mind as he finally decided to set down the book that he had wrapped in his fingers.

He never spent enough time at home, especially when he had more to read then he usually would have. He told everyone that he enjoyed the silence, but he always had another reason. He knew if he was home, he would have to listen to his family go on about their distaste to Ridley. Isaac personally wasn’t one to gossip, and sometimes it boggled his mind why everyone had been so cruel. After all, she had done the damn thing. She had gotten their names on the board, their family would skyrocket to fame once again, or something like that. Isaac would not put himself in the position to deal with their public interest, even though he was convinced that the Le Roux’s had always had a pristine reputation, preserved in Amber for everyone to awe at.

Sometimes the idea of that made him sick.

So that’s why he was not home, and instead, he was in a patch near the training academy. It was always easier to do things in places one liked after all right? Isaac wasn’t being facetious about that either. It was the one place that he would call home besides the four walls he resided in. He liked the comfort here, he felt like he knew it well, which meant he could act with conviction rather than try to guess. He had never been the boy who liked to live on the edge. He could admire such a thing, but he could never do that himself. Act without thinking about it first. Rash decision making was what got one killed, that is what he was taught. He watched it happen in these past games.

Sophie Fray came close to the crown, but was struck down by the tribute from eight. Isaac had paid attention to conversations that had been had in the games because of the boy from one. He remembered that one of the tributes from eight went by they, and Isaac was in no position to deny that from them. He didn’t care regardless until he watched them slice Sophie Fray, limb from limb. That’s when he realized that Ridley would have more time to soak in the spotlight from her win, which would probably be talked about for the ages.

He closed his book as soon as he realized that he might have been watched. He stood up for a moment and began to stretch. He had been wearing a pair of shorts and a sleeveless t-shirt. He had every intention of doing a little training after this. After all, he wanted to stay limber. If he was going to get his chance in the arena, then he needed to prepare for every single thing that would come at him. Besides, it seemed like he had an audience, and they had never been a Le Roux that did not like to put on a show.

They all lived for it.

[✌ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ]

The moments after a games were always poised, toeing some sort of invisible edge. The district was quiet, a collective sigh had resounded from the rows of houses after Sophie Fray had fallen, the last horse One had had. Things felt different when Ky and Opal had returned from the Capitol. Life was so much quieter in comparison to the bright lights of the Capitol, he'd forgotten how much of a different world it was.

A lot had changed for him in the Capitol. He'd made an effort, reached out to people and actually made some acquaintances, even was reunited with people he hadn't seen in years and could only vaguely remember. It had been nice, really nice and he'd been proud of himself. He'd made friends there, but now everyone was back home again and Ky was back at square one. At least he had their numbers and access to a Victor phone.

There had to be some perks for the hand he'd been dealt.

Opal had been put back to work in the training centre pretty fast upon return and Ky had spent the better part of the morning with her preparing the gym for a new batch of littles to begin their training. One liked to start them young and it was always hard to watch kindergartners run after each other with makeshift spears.

Ky had eaten a bagged lunch with his mom before heading out. He'd missed a lot of school while he'd been in the Capitol and had a lot of catch up to do before the end of the week. There were three papers waiting for him at home.

The training patches were mainly deserted thanks to the hour and the oncoming afternoon heat. Ky was itching to spar again but Opal had been adamant that he at least do some homework first, hence why he was headed home.

He hadn't been expecting to see anyone at all but a small movement caught his eye and Ky found himself drawn off of the main path. A boy sat in the middle of a patch in work out gear but bent over a book instead of working out. He stared at him, always staring for too long, wondering what the boy could be reading that held his interest so tightly.

Ky recognized him vaguely, a Le Roux. They were an old blood victor family that had just earned fresh victor blood last year. He and his mom had attended the Victor Tour when it had arrived in One and Opal had said some words to her maybe but not much else had happened since. Until recently, Opal had kept Ky away from most things pertaining to the games.

The boy stood up suddenly and Ky wondered if he'd known that he was there. Most careers in one had a keen enough sense to know when there was someone else around, it would only make sense if he had.

"Hi," he said as he stepped into the clearing, "What are you reading?"

Showing interest in other people's interests was a good way to make friends.

[ryan]

He had always been taught to be cautious of his surroundings. It had been clear to him, that someone had been watching him, but a part of him liked that. After all, he had lion’s blood in him. He found ways to enjoy the spotlight, even if he didn’t always like being in it. Sometimes it was hard for him to be center stage, as he always moved out of the way for his cousins that had always been a bit more brazen then himself. But in places where it didn’t matter, like here, it made his mouth salivate with excitement. He thought about all he could show off in this moment, just to appease whatever imaginary audience that had been in his head, but he waited. The air had not been blowing the right way after all.

He wondered if this was how Ridley felt when she visited them last. The party had been a lot, even Isaac could admit that. They all cornered Ridley like she was a new babe ready for their slaughter, but she found a way to fight back. She won. Something that she probably imagined any of them could do. However, that didn’t stop them from trying to rip that idea to shreds as well. After all, everyone in the family felt like they could take the crown, and that was the problem. They did not care that Ridley won it first, they would find a way to do it better. A way to be better. That was the pride of being a Le Roux. A lion. A fierce person that did not take second place in anything.

it was always win or bust.

But then someone came out of the enclosure, a boy that seemed frail to the eyes, but that never meant anything here in one. People thought the same thing about Isaac but he always found a way to floor people, even if he didn’t look strong. Sometimes his mental capacity scared others, but that was what he prided himself on. He always saw things differently after all. The whole picture would flash in his mind and he always had an answer, even if he didn’t want to admit it. Its what got him as far as he was. He was told often he was brilliant, and he always tried to never let that go to his head.

He failed every time.

However, the boy was interested in his book. He looked back for a moment before looking at him and smiling. ”The book over there? It’s a book on the physics of throwing objects.” Isaac said with a small smile and a shrug erupting from his body. ”Pretty boring, but interesting enough for me to not tell my father I don’t want to read it.” Isaac said honestly. He knew well that his father wouldn’t have cared. If that was what he wanted him to read for the day, then he would do just that. He always did what he was told after all, his father hadn’t led him astray too often.

”Youre more than welcome to look at it if you would like.” Isaac smirked before running his hand through his hair. ”I need to move around a little bit personally.” he shook out his hands and began to stretch in front of the boy. ”Do you sneak up on all the boys?” his face had a smile plastered all over it. Isaac definitely did not know how to control himself, especially when it came to flirting. If that’s what this was.

He always said it was because he was awkward.

And that he was.

[✌ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ]

Ky picked the book up and ran a finger loosely along the spine. It wasn't well-worn, maybe it really wasn't good. Ky didn't mind, he'd still read anything. He flipped through it carefully, sun pushing down on him from above as if to remind him that he had more important stuff to be doing. Except, what was more important than a promise? He'd told his mom that he'd try to make friends so maybe his homework could wait.

"I don't mind boring," he said, eyes catching on an interesting diagram, "I kind of like it actually." It was mostly true too, he'd had enough emotional turmoil for a lifetime and he was only sixteen years old. He wasn't honestly sure about how much he could handle. His next session with his therapist was bound to be a doozy.

He knew that it was probably his turn to carry the conversation but he'd never really been good at that and the career boy didn't seem bothered by his lack of speech either. Ky settled down on the grass, book propped open in his lap. It seemed a little dated but it wasn't as if the science had changed much anyway. Physics tended to be good at staying pretty concrete.

The career boy started stretching and Ky turned a page of the book, eyes falling on a drawing of a throwing knife. It was drawn beautifully, whoever had made the book had put a lot of work in and Ky wondered just what they'd been thinking about when they had. Did they know that years later kids would be reading it, desperate to get a leg up in their impending doom?

It was definitely something to think about.

"Do you sneak up on all the boys?”

Ky looked up, blinking at the accusation. He hadn't meant to offend anyone, he'd just been walking after all. He knew after a solid couple weeks of poor interactions in the Capitol that his social skills needed polishing but he didn't think he'd been that bad.

After a moment, he realized the other boy was smiling, it was just a joke. That was a relief, he wasn't trying to make enemies here after all. "Ha ha," he said, smiling to match the other boy, "No, I was just coming from the training centre."

"You're a Le Roux aren't you?"