dancing tinderboxes // jimmaye!

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"gonna make you wonder why you even try
gonna take you down and laugh when you cry
and i still don't know how i even survive
and i gotta get to rock bottom!"

---

Lorenzo wore Quinn like a backpack, she tore at his hair and pinch his eye. Grappled onto his back and complained the entire commute, "I want dad, I want food, I want-"

"What, what else could you want, darlin',"

"I want to sleep!" 

Good Heavens, Lord above, she had stopped clutching at his sweater and began holding on by the nape of his ever growing hair. Lorenzo decided he'd got bald if it meant he didn't have to deal with that anymore, being forced to stare into the sky as he walked for the both of them. Quinn's legs hurt after the first six steps, she just couldn't do it anymore - eighteen minutes before they left, she was complaining that she had was bored of being in the house. And no, she didn't want Jasper, or either of Kieran's kids. 

He had asked, good lord had he asked, but she wanted to leave the village and go out somewhere else, and that ain't much worry him more than that. Not even the fact of Quinn going out like that, but what pops or Saff would think- especially Saff, good grief, she was going to kill him. But so he went, and he took her, and he had to find her shoes for her because a week of being left alone and the house had already fallen apart. 

"I thought you wanted to see Jimmy, Q,"

"I don't even know who Jimmy is!" she had responded, situating herself back into the saddle position, legs kicked over his arms. All the muscle mass gain in the world wasn't enough to carry her the entire way without complains, Lorenzo was a stronger kid sure but god damn, "well, what do you want to do, Quinn!"

He stopped walking for a bit, the gentle breeze kicking against them both, but he realized that'd kill him in the long run. Breathing and feeling the pain in his back, "hmm," 

"Hmm."

"I guess."

"You guess?"

Ever since their parents had left off and Lorenzo realized he wasn't going with them, he had spent a lot of time picturing what he would do with his first pay check. District Four would pay him somewhat for an easy job and he'd take that money to the goddamn bank and find somebody to baby sit in his watch -- hell, maybe he'd just grab Wander and take ver home with him, ve're great with kids! Lorenzo was too, to an extent, but he had gotten so antsy recently it just wasn't manageable. 

The two of them made it to Lorenzo's old home, standing rusted in the swaying high grass and with a "here we go, doll" he sat Quinn on the porch. "Now don't go runnin' anywhere, alright?" He waited until Quinn nods back, hair something messy that Saff would knock him out for. But hell, he wanted that nap too at this point, stretching his back again as they waited in the wind.

Until "JIMM-AYE!" Like a shot gun, Lorenzo pulled him in for a hug- he was always too physical for his own good, patting his back and smelling the old wicker and sweat that always reminded him of the worst years in his life. "Rogue can't pick up the phone nowadays, where's she been at?!" Talking a bit too fast, eyes trained in Jimmy's and he had missed this stupid son of a bitch in the last few months. 

Speaking honestly, Lorenzo had always been bad at keeping up with the pound folks. No matter how close they had been, he'd grown too comfortable with turning that blind eye. Forgetting about it all until he was in the open again, "but I'm happy to see you, man, really! Quinn got bored and I wanted to step around the block anyway so-" he turned to look at the empty spot that Quinn moved from. 

He shut his mouth tightly, only budging to bite his thumb. 

"Well." What the fuck, Quinn,

"Shit."

[d6a georgie cham 🍓🐢 frankel]

JIMM-AYE

One more god damn year and he will be set free. Thrown into the wilderness with no care, nobody to make his dinners and nobody to tuck him in at night. Fuck. He will miss the hot dinners. His culinary expertise does not go past a sandwich and a bowl of cereal. Jimmy really does not know how he will survive being an adult, there has been no training involved. Just a good luck pat on the back before being thrown out of the orphanage door.

Fuck. He has no idea what he is going to do. The illegal running races are not going to fund his supply of sandwiches.

The house is completely empty today, all the kids have fled to the markets and finally Jimmy has some peace. He spends most of the morning pacing around the hallways, dipping in and out of the unlocked bedrooms having a nosy and swiping the unhidden candies from the little kid’s beds. Well, they should have hidden it better.

There is a noise outside, maybe it is the kids rolling back home, or some dirty trespasser. Jimmy is quick to a window, peering out from and upstairs room; trying to locate whoever is trespassing on the lawns. Shit the Zombie is here and with the victor yearling.

So today is the day the undead kid comes rolling back to town from his lavish victor’s village life. Obviously, he is jealous, who wouldn’t want to come back to life in the games and end up in the care of Saffron Lowe and good ol’ Mace Emberstatt. With Jimmy’s luck, he would have probably ended up the care of that rat worshipping one.

He is quick down the stairs, the force of his feet making a thud on each of the wooden steps. His running causes the entire house to rattle and vibrate, he can hear the imaginary groans of the orphanage guardian but that bitch aint here to shout at him today.

As soon as he is out of the door, he is trapped by Enzo’s grasp and his welcoming is like a crash of thunder to his ears. ”Shit, you got strong!” Jimmy says as he jokingly gasps for air he is finally released from the tight squeeze. ”You have grown too. Rogue is ok…I think? She must be out a lot as I don’t see her around much.” No, he is just really that bad at keeping track on who still lives in the house and who doesn’t. There has been a sudden influx of little squirts that the older kids take every chance to get out of the mad house.

”Don’t tell me you just lost the victor kid? Well I am sure there is an empty bed in the big ol’ house for you haha!” Jimmy chuckles, looking around the front porch surprised at how fast the little one must have fled. ”Don’t worry though, she can’t have gotten that far.”

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" now it's cold, and i can't find my way home
i hope you boys don't forget about me
i lost all the dignity i had left
i know my love's not meant to be "

---

Two of them look out over the lawn, not a brain between them and Lorenzo's chewing his nails already. It hasn't sunk in fully- how much fear he really should be feeling. Five years of therapy and training gone down the drain because the second Saffron hears about this, she's killing him in a way Shy Aubergine could only fucking dream of. He can't even take the solace comfort that comes from a Jimmy brand compliment, it just ain't the same with stress in the heart. 

Pocket it though, save it for later, Lorenzo'll sure enough let it go to his head when he's a bit less preoccupied. A few neurons short and dedicating them all to one miss Quinn Lowe- more so, the absence of her. He coughs as he swallows a nail shred, "yeah, okay look, she's- fast?" There's a bit of nerves that show as he taps his fingers on his lips, furring his brow at the distance. Rocks and woods and fields, she was just complaining of how tired she was, how the hell is she already gone? 

Hmm. Well, this is awkward. 

Lorenzo looks to Jimmy as he reassures him, trying to remind himself that Quinn is a hard headed kid, she's probably just curled up under a tall piece of grass or something. Tiny little thing, "I just- I do not understand," flustered a bit as they stand on the orphanage porch. Enzo starts off walking in one direction, checking from the porch to the corner of the house- that kid's grounded for left when they find her. Walking her all the way back to her pampered bedroom, and and- and, well, he can't really do much besides that. 

Can't really tell their parents, they weren't even supposed to come this far out. Saffron's never come out to the Orphanage and she probably wouldn't be... too happy knowing Lorenzo brought her daughter this far. He looks around the corner, seeing only the mold of the bricks dripping slow down to the ground. A wicker basket and a water pump, wooden logs strayed across the ground. Not holding his breath for too long, he walks around another forth of the perimeter, looking past the back of the building. 

Nothing, no Quinn Lowe in sight, "Aye, Jimmy-!" he calls as he walks back to meet Jimmy, coming off the porch to watch Enzo as he investigates. "She's fuckin' gone," blunt, as he looks over the field for any movement, he can't even be too mad about it. Just annoyed, frank, "I reckon we split up, yeah?" 

Cover more ground, he tries to recall everything he learned about tracking cattle, rack his brain for where his sister may have gone. "And just, like, yell if one of us finds - if you do wanna help! Up to you, really," would be kinda awkward at this point, but Quinn'll probably show up either way. Curled up on the porch asleep, she's too lazy to make it off the property. 

"Don't really know what your day's plan is, y'know."

[d6a georgie cham 🍓🐢 frankel]

JIMM-AYE

Well he did not plan a day of tracking a missing victor’s kid. Maybe he will get a medal for rescuing the little squirt from impeding danger. There are so many hazards dotted around the big ol’ house as he goes in the opposite direction of Lorenzo. Sharp slates hanging onto…air? From the edge of the roof. An axe left leaning against the back wall of the house, after a busy shift woodchopping. Who even left that out here…oh shit. There are just so many more young ones rolling up to the orphanage now, infants that he has to step over every morning and he is forced to plug his ears every night to block out their tantrums as they are forced into bed. Damn, his nineteenth birthday cannot come quick enough.

There is no sight of Lorenzo’s stray, not that he has properly looked anyway. Just a quick scan of the nooks and cranny’s around the big ol’ house. ”Maybe you should put a leash on her next time.” Jimmy says as he is reunited with Lorenzo at the rendezvous, honestly he had better plans today. Go for a run. Maybe a little jog around the edge the District. A quick sprint to the town square for a bag of pastries from the bakery. Even a trot to the markets to secure the work that will prepare him for adulthood. Not a search and rescue mission kindly forced onto him by an unplanned guest.

Eh, he has not seen his old friend, brother, orphanage buddy for a long time. There is much to catch up on, it will be rude to leave the poor bastard shitting his pants after losing such a valuable item.

”Err, no I didn’t really have much planned today…I guess I’ll have to help.” Jimmy looks around the perimeter of the orphanage’s land, he can’t believe the kid got away so fast. Maybe she is a little sprinter like him, the punters would love putting a bet on her in the races. Oh, he could get a lot of the cut if he persuaded a victor name to join the marathons…

”Y’know, the front door isn’t locked. Do you think she went inside?“ Empty rooms will have so many hiding places for the little menace to vanish into, so many of the infants have found them to avoid bath time. Like himself so many years ago. ”There are a lot of rooms in that house…does she come if you call her name?” A grin plants itself on Jimmy’ face.