time erodes our fight. // victors blitz.

[pearl mcclain d4 [ryan]]

a n n i e .

"you are weak
but not foolish
you have learned
how to die."

This city is caving isn’t it?

Annie is not blind to the looks, because at this point, they follow her like ghosts. She tends to find them worse if she was being honest with herself. Its not like she had ghosts of her victims to haunt her. 

After all, she got lucky with that one now did she?

But that didn’t matter to most people that hated her, as they could probably find some other reason to snide and make comments about her. It was like they knew her even better than she knew herself, and that part always amazed her.

How could anyone know more than her, about herself? 

It was a mystery that she could never solve.

---

She hears Ridley whisper something to her, they are sitting closer than usual together, a rare occurrence. Annie knew that. She takes a deep breath as she looked to Ridley and gave her a light smile. ”Devils are just saints in disguise.” Annie tried to be reassuring, but she already knew that there were people here that probably thought about the moment they could dig into her for the umpteenth time. Annie was no stranger to any of it, because its been almost six years since she has found herself to be one of them.

However, every time she thinks that she could be one of them, one of them have to show their true colors and express to her how they really feel.

And if Annie could be paid for every time she was told that she was the lucky one, the princess who dodged the bullet, the girl who was able to wipe the blood off after slaughtering sheep, she wouldn’t be any richer that’s for sure. She is always concerned with the amount of funds she is given yearly. She barely spends even a fraction of it. Maybe even a quarter. 

She would be lying though if she claimed she did not want the title, because even she knew that being a victor did mean something to her. Sure she would have been the lucky one to get her life back if she did die in her games, but she didn’t, because she fought like hell, and came out on top.

But that didn’t matter to many of them, because absolution saved her, and drenched her clean of whatever sins she had committed.

Minimizing them to a minimum.

---

And then she finally realized that Nico Thorne had been in fact, placed right next to her. Annie had been trying to enjoy the night, but it was very clear that someone didn’t want her too. She hated the capitol for that, because obviously they had been so invested in the victors personal lives, that they knew how to push their buttons.

Nico Thorne was exactly what his name sounded like. A thorne, and while she has met a couple of people that told her that she should give him a chance, she does not accept that. He is the one that instigates it, every single time. Of course, he would always claim that it was her doing, and then they would start their usual conversations of fuck yous and shouting. It was almost like it was a ritual at this point, and honestly, she didn’t understand why the capitol couldn’t see that keeping them separate had always been the best move.

However, they laughed in her face for that sentiment, and obviously Nico standing there and begging for someone to switch a seat with him made Annie just a little bit on edge. Surely he did know that Annie could plunge a knife deep into his throat in a blink of an eye, yes? Annie might not be a victor to him, but she is and will always be a career. Even as years passed, she still knew every way to kill a man by just looking at them, and there had been many opportunities where Annie had just wanted to silence him. Cut out his tongue and shove it down his throat. It was clear that words did not work, so maybe acts of violence would have to be subbed in. 

If Nico wanted Annie to be the monster that he claimed her to be, then she would be it. 

It doesn’t help that Nico is aided by Kirito, with Teddy making an off comment about needing wine. She is perplexed, annoyed, and clearly ready for a couple glasses herself, but she promised herself that she would only drink with her meal, and that meant that she needed to pace herself. She actually wanted to go the whole meal without a drop gracing her lips, and that was being tested.

However, she didn’t want to waste a word on any of them. It was easier for her to walk away now, because after years of trying to fight to prove that she was one of them, it didn’t matter anymore. She would always be one of them whether they wanted to be nice about it or not. It would always be a difficult pill to swallow, but with enough effort, Annie could do it. 

That didn’t mean she was perfect, her eyes rolling in the back of her head before looking over in the direction of Patricia, who had cut through the tension like Bette had sliced right through her cheek. She commands Nico’s attention, and Annie finds the right opportunity to at least try to sneak away for a second while that whole situation finds a way to work itself out.   Annie could always hope for the best.

---

She walked out on the balcony for a moment, her back turned to half of the victors that she did not want to interact, and her face still looking over her shoulder. When an Avox came up to her with a glass of wine, she looked at them and simply waved them away. ”One of them will want it more than I will ever. So go take it to them please.” Annie is clear in her words and she stands in the cold capitol air and thinks about every single thing that she would rather be doing right now.

Anywhere but here.

elegant

PAT: 1036

[rook]

p a t r i c i a .

"you sigh, look away
i can see it clear as day
close your eyes, so afraid
hide behind that baby face"

"Just one? What if I choose 'no'?"

His eyebrows raise and there's the faintest air of confidence about him. I suppose any tribute who has the arrogance in their bones to call themselves a king seconds before the final cannon booms is bound to have an ego. Nico Thorne doesn't seem like someone who has taken off his crown yet.

But he'll get there.

His demeanour is daring, almost provocative, and maybe ten years ago I would have bitten back, maybe ten years ago I'd have gone toe-to-toe with this kid from Twelve, but I'm old and tired and know how that road ends.

I stare back blankly, reminded of my age, and how these younger Victors were barely out of the cradle when I was yanking my blade out of Cha Leviane's eye socket. I can see it in some Victors, how they know what I did and what I went through, because they watched it as I lived it. These kids don't have that same quiet shrinking expression on their faces, they don't see me as the girl who crawled out of a dark hole, they just see some older lady with bags under her eyes and bad roots.

"Then whatever, I'll find someone who's head isn't shoved up their own ass."

He doesn't seem the type to be right for what I'm asking, anyway. Guess that killer instinct of mine ain't what it used to be.

I scan the room for Lysander, and see her talking with Beck. They seem friendly with each other, which is good - I trust Beck. He seems a genuine person unlike the rest of us.

table credits to the talented elegant !

[umber vivuus 12b 🥀 [dars]]

They're going to know I'm high. Mackenzie Pryce had chosen today, of all days, to delve into edibles, which meant when he took one and nothing happened, he took another, and when nothing still happened, he smoked. And then, of course, it all hit him at once. He'd just stared at the clock on the wall for what may have been a minute or several hours before realizing he had to leave immediately if he was going to be on time. Barely on time, not quite late. He hadn't realized he forgot to spray himself with cologne or, at the very least, plop a piece of gum into his mouth, until he was in the elevator. And then the doors opened, and he stepped off, and he saw the banquet room at the end of the hall, and he stopped dead in his tracks. Well, to be more specific, he saw the door going into the banquet hall. It looked unnatural amongst the golds and porcelains that otherwise decorated the hall, cheaply made, with curvy designs in it and light peering through holes where the hinges had originally been screwed. He'd really, really liked this fucking door until Lex had taken it down while he was in the Capitol roughly four or five years ago. "What the fuuuck," he mumbled, bewildered and tucking his hands into his pockets and aiming for the bathroom rather than entering the banquet hall. He splashed water on his face, peered at his reflection. Either the concern was masked by the highness or vice versa, but the end result just had him looking tired, which wasn't a far stretch from the truth. There was still the smell to figure out, but it wasn't long before he heard voices in the room down the hall, so he ultimately decided that, in the grand scheme of things, there were worse things he could do than get a little too high. He ducked in, noticeably late, found his name plate and took his seat. Nearby were Teddy, whom he was grateful for, Jacinta, whom was looking at him with an eyebrow raised, and Patricia Valfierno, whom he couldn't recall ever having a single conversation with. He tried to remain inconspicuous, kept his gaze down and busied himself with unfurling his cutlery. He cleared his throat, then he cleared his throat again, then he convinced himself he was clearing his throat too much so, even though he really, really needed to clear his throat, he did not. He was all too happy when an avox bounded over to fill his glass with water. "Thanks," he said, swallowing a quick gulp. He'd entered in the middle of some sort of awkward encounter, and Patricia had been saying something he hadn't quite caught wind of when he took his seat. It wasn't until she called on Nico that he became interested. "Hey, Thorne. A word?" she called. And then Nico, infamous asshole, said, "Just one? What if I choose 'no'?" Mackenzie rolled his eyes, following her and flicking Nico in the head. "That means 'What's up?' in Nico-speak. Sorry, work in progress," he canted, smiling at Patricia and making sure to keep his distance.

[gamemaker tallis 🧚🏽‍♂️kaitlin.]

[atrb=border,0,true] n i c o t h o r n e He doesn't mean to be like this. He swears. Nico really is working on being kinder, trying to sort himself out and be a better person. He knows that he let himself get twisted up all wrong and that he tried to put the pieces back together in all the wrong places, then before he'd even properly realized that he was built wrong and crooked, the Capitol had put a crown on his head and let him be king of nothing. It's why he can't even be angry when Patricia just... goes to walk away. She's the first one to do it, the first one to just say, no, absolutely not, I'm not having any of this kids shit. Because that's the thing, Nico knows it's bullshit better than anyone, knows that he doesn't want to be like that, that he wants to have people in his life that he can depend on and that can depend on him. But this crooked cruelty is the only thing he's ever known, and it's been terrible trying to shake it out of himself. People like Mackenzie Pryce flicking him in the forehead help, oddly enough. He thinks it's because Mackenzie has never shamed him for the way that he is, has enabled him when he needed it most of all, and did anything else when Nico needed that. He's been there to hold his hand and smile and remind him that things are going to get sorted, get better, be different—and it never fails to stir something warm in Nico's chest when the older boy comes around. Especially when he comes around all glass-eyed like that. "You know," Nico replies, bringing his prosthetic hand up and touching the place where Mackenzie flicked him. "Not everyone needs to know I'm not actually a dickhead, right?" He turns back to Patricia. "He is right though; usually people just ignore the shit that comes out of my mouth."