riptide.— [six/thad/evan]

[Deleted]

Six had a checklist in his head of the things he needed to do to make sure he didn't die. He needed to get a good score. He needed to look confident so people didn't target him thinking he'd be an easy kill. He needed to practice hard on his stations. And he needed to make friends. The friends thing was for a couple reasons, some selfish and some not. The selfish reasons were things like alliances, sharing supplies, and so on. However, he also just wanted to have friends. He was used to constantly being around his siblings and laughing and having a good time. Yes he was quiet, but he missed the chaos and noise of the O'Malley house.

There was never a dull moment there, that was for sure. They were like normal kids. They fought and had arguments and got hurt. Sometimes it got a little overwhelming, honestly - especially since he was in the older half of the kids and had a little more responsibility. But right now? He was still overwhelmed, but he was alone. He hated the feeling of loneliness. It left him with nothing but his own thoughts. He was beginning to worry about dying alone. He had seen many tributes die while being held by someone they loved or were friends with. That's how he wanted to die. He didn't want to pass away in isolation.

He was a bit nervous about approaching the upper district tributes. They just intimated him, he wasn't sure why. Maybe it was just the stigma of them. Sure career win after career win wasn't really a thing anymore, but the history was still there. Plus he felt, in a way, they existed in another world than him. They existed in a world of luxury. A world of new clothes and shopping and doing all of the fun teenager stuff. He didn't. He existed in a world of rationing food and hand-me-downs and working on the farm from sunrise to sunset. He didn't want to fly too close to the sun.

So right now he wanted to try to be friends with a lower district tribute. Then he saw one, the guy who tried to volunteer but got picked anyway in district ten. Thad Pepperwood. He seemed nice enough. Plus, his table was empty right now except for one other guy. Another volunteer, Evan Macmillan from district twelve. That guy was a little bit more intimidating than Thad, but so far Six didn't have any reason to believe he wasn't a nice guy too. So he made his way over to where they were sitting and grabbed a seat.

Six tried to look confident, like he believed in himself. This was something he had been working on since the moment his name was called that day. For the most part, he was a pretty good actor. But whenever he spoke, it gave it away. When he spoke his voice was soft and quiet. He didn't sound scared, just timid. That was definitely something he wanted to work on before the interviews and the private training stations. Those were important and he didn't want everyone to realise how scared he was there.

"Hey, do you two mind if I join you?"

[kap]

Thad Pepperwood

-----
"You're one step closer to the throne
King of nothing"

The Capitol was so much different than home. It was full of giant, tall buildings and people in extravagant clothing. Back home was mostly farms and shabby houses, at least around where I lived. The Pepperwood house was one of the nicer looking ones in the part of the District that we lived in. Although the Capitol was quite stunning and overall really impressive, I wasn't sure that I really liked it all that much better than being home.

Besides- my brothers weren't here in the Capitol. I was basically alone here. Perhaps that's what prompted me to think about trying to make friends. That, and the fact that being alone in the arena often didn't go over well for the average tribute. I could really use an alliance, and it's not likely that any careers would want me if they saw how I did shooting a bow earlier.

I piled my tray full of food. I had pastries and a couple of different types of fruit I'd never seen before, along with a rather delicious-looking sandwich that was definitely going to be the first thing that I tried. All of this food just looked so good! I really wanted to delve in, but I also had to multitask here, if I was going to try to befriend people.

I took a seat at a table with the volunteer boy from Twelve.

I gave him a slight nod, but didn't make conversation yet. I wanted to eat a little bit first, and give him time to do the same. Maybe then I'd approach with some actual words.

As I was sitting at the table, eating, one of the kids from Eleven came over. Now, when I say kid, I mean kid. This boy definitely looked younger than myself and the guy from Twelve (Evan). It took me a minute to place the name of the kid from Eleven.

Six, I realized. That was what he was called.

Six asked if he could join us, and seeing as I was going to be trying to befriend some people, I nodded.

"Go right ahead," I told him. "Six, right?" I questioned, confirming as to what his name was. I proceeded to introduce myself, because who knew, maybe he was as bad at names as I often was. "I'm Thad."

Honestly, I'm quite surprised that I remembered Evan's name right away, and even remembered Six's name eventually. Maybe my memory was improving. That would help in the arena.

Then I realized I hadn’t even asked Evan if Six or myself could join him.

”I hope you don’t mind,” I said to Evan.

-----

lyrics: "King of Nothing" by Saint Asonia

[mat]

evan macmillan

Hunger. Evan does not feel it often. At home, he ate rarely and quickly. There's so much to do there, and such little time to run back home and eat. It didn't come to his attention, though, that he was eating less than he should have been until the people in the Capitol told Evan that he seemed undernourished. Shocked him. They told him to eat more while he was here as they have the best food in the world. He wouldn't regret it.

And they were right. The first meal he was hesitant, but by the second he ate double, maybe triple, of what he might have back home in a whole day. Even the richest in District Twelve would be amazed. His old man, who claimed MacMillans could eat like kings if they wanted to put forth enough effort to get the food, would love it in the Capitol. Everything is perfect, from the holier than you stares to the ease of getting anything he wants with the blink of an eye.

With every meal, his appetite grows larger. The steak that they serve is Evan's favorite, although everything else in the dining hall remains a close second. Many of the other tributes keep their eyes down in awkward silence, but Evan carries his plate to an almost empty table with pride. There's one boy there, with a ten stitched onto the side of his uniform. The cowboy district. He forgets his name. Ten gives him a nod of approval to sit by him. Evan releases a smirk as he sits down and sets his plate out in front of him. Evan was not asking, you maggot. MacMillans do not need permission. They take what they want, eyes locking in on what they desire with a crosshair of greed.

He begins to cut the steak into strips. It's cooked medium-well, whatever the hell that means. The silverware scrapes against the plate every now and again as Evan hurries himself along so he can eat. The strips are a little less than an inch thick. He lets every bite marinate in his mouth to get every last taste in. So good.

He watches the boy from Ten pick at his food. His eyes stay steady on him. There's twenty-three opponents competing for the same praise and fame that he is. Not all of them want it, but more importantly, not all of them are as hungry for it as Evan MacMillan.

"Hey, do you two mind if I join you?"

The words of a much gentler onlooker disrupt Evan's gaze. His eyes move to the top right corner but his head doesn't move an inch. It's a boy with curly red hair, smaller than him and the Ten guy. He breathes out through his nose, trying not to choke on the chuckle looming in his mouth. Looks easy to beat, he thinks, continuing to bite through the strip of steak he was working on.

Ten once again gives his approval. "Go right ahead. Six, right?" Well, that's going to get confusing. The boy from District Eleven is named Six. Evan can't help but release a couple of choppy laughs. Too good. "I'm Thad."

Thad and Six. Easy, off the tongue names.

Evan trades his glare from Six to Thad, unimpressed. These two were meant to be part of his competition? He taps his fingernail against the plate. Thad looks over to him to find Evan's eyebrows raised in disbelief. "I hope you don't mind."

Really? Who's sitting where, and who cares about who's sitting where, is this guy's biggest concern? Evan swallows his bite and fuels Thad's concerns. "I mean, if you own this fucking table, Thad, does it matter if I mind?" In truth, Evan couldn't care less about the seating arrangements. He just wants to eat.

After silence invades their corner of the cafeteria, Evan's maniacal smile and bleeding sarcasm resume the conversation. "Oh, come on now, I'm just kidding! Take a seat, Seven." He gets the boy's name wrong on purpose, hoping it might get on the boy's nerves and reveal a more timid or small nature about him.

MacMillans thrive off of insecurity and fear.

[Deleted]

Six was expecting Thad and Evan to let them join him, this wasn't junior high. Most of them didn't really care who sat with who and Six knew that. Bur Six was also a farmboy and he was raised with manners. You say please and thank you, you ask to sit down, you don't disrespect your elders, and so on. The fact that he would soon be fighting these two to the death didn't change the farmboy part of Six. Being disrespectful was not something he wanted to do, especially to two guys who were twice his size. 

Evan was definitely the more intimidating one out of the two before he even spoke a word. Maybe the silence is what made him so intimidating, maybe it was the expression on his face, or maybe it was the confidence in which he volunteered which reminded Six of a career. Either way, that was someone who he did not want to be on the bad side of. Of course, he didn't want to be on anyone's bad side if he could help it.

Before he could respond to Thad, Evan had interrupted. He waited for him to finish speaking before he said anything. Part of Six regretted making that choice. However scared he was of Evan before had just multiplied. He suddenly felt like he was back home on the farm and had walked in on one of his older siblings arguing with his parents about something or other. And he reacted the same way he did back then. He stayed quiet and looked down, didn't make any eye contact - hoping his presence would go unnoticed.

When Evan said it was all one big joke he couldn't help but let out a nervous giggle. Maybe this guy was just having a bad day, he couldn't really blame him. They were all having a series of bad days that were about to get so much work. Six himself had been having trouble sleeping. Back home he could sleep through his siblings arguing, the younger kids jumping on the bed, and even his brothers wrestling on his bed. But now at night? The eerie silence of it all made it nearly impossible to sleep and when he finally did sleep he was soon awoken with nightmares. He wondered if he'd ever be able to sleep without nightmares again, even if he won - he doubted it.

He took a bite of the strawberry shortcake on his plate. The majority of his plate was desserts and even without the desserts he had a lot more fruit than he had vegetables or meat. Of course he still had a little bit of everything, but he never really had sweets before coming to the capitol. And the moment he had his first sweet - a macron on the train - his sweet tooth had been born and wasn't planning on dying out any time soon. When he spoke, he didn't make eye contact with Evan or Thad, almost as if he was scared to. In fact, he didn't even correct Evan. Instead he just put extra emphasis on his name when letting Thad know he got his name right.

"Thanks y'all... and you're right, my names Six. So there's Thad, then what's your name?"

[kap]

Thad Pepperwood

-----
"You're one step closer to the throne
King of nothing"

"I mean, if you own this fucking table, Thad, does it matter if I mind?" Evan's words were a bit snippy toward me, but I didn't think too much of him. If I'm being totally honest, I just sort of stared at him when he said it.

There's silence from Six, and he's looked down at his feet rather than at the two of us.

"Oh, come on now, I'm just kidding! Take a seat, Seven," Evan continued.

I suppose he reminded me of one of my brothers with the way he joked around. If being rude was a joke to him, he'd certainly get along with Alex. Alex was the sarcastic type. He loved to sound like he was being an asshole, and then insist to you that it was a joke. My parents hated it. I thought it was hilarious most of the time.

That's why I don't know what prompted me to be so quiet before Evan said it was a joke. I should've figured.

Now came the chuckle and a bit of a smirk from me. It was actually kind of funny, the way he said it. He wasn't wrong, I'd kind of taken control of what was going on here at the table. He didn't genuinely seem to care all that much though.

Six spoke up again, now. He thanked us, confirming that his name was Six, that I was Thad, and then asked what the kid from Twelve's name was. I could've told him it was Evan, but I also could've been totally wrong. What if I got him mixed up with another tribute? I didn't want to seem like a total idiot.

Although, I wasn't too concerned about looking clueless when Six was basically a lost puppy at this point.

I didn't mind the kid. He seemed sweet— Six, that is. I just thought that maybe he was a little too soft for what he was about to get into with the whole Hunger Games thing. Then again, it wasn't his choice to be here. He hadn't volunteered like Evan had, or like I'd tried to. He wasn't here because he wanted to be. He was here because he was forced to be.

In all honesty, I felt bad for the kid.

I looked to Evan for the answer on his name. I wasn't going to tell them I already knew it. I didn't want to seem like the obsessive studier of the Hunger Games that I was. I studied past Games, and I studied the current tributes as much as I possibly could, too. It was entertaining to me, and now, it could even become quite helpful.

-----

lyrics: "King of Nothing" by Saint Asonia

[mat]

evan macmillan

Any chance of civility at the table had been killed the moment Evan spoke. He finds it amusing that Six and Thad are both so timid. Evading the social responsibilities that come with preparing for the games, neither of them is as playful or coy as Evan likes his tormented acquaintances to be. But after the 'joke' is realized by the pair, it only takes a few minutes for them to brush it off and move on. He continues cutting through and biting into the steak, landing a smirk as the sauces perk up the roof of his mouth.

"Thanks y'all."

Not y'all! When Evan learned about the other districts in elementary school, he played the role of District Ten in their roleplaying performances. One of his friends, Dem (rest their soul,) was District Eleven. While all the other roles had their own dialect and mannerisms, Dem and Evan just said y'all every other word. It sparks joy in him knowing that the stereotypes Twelve had of the other lower districts were true after all.

"and you're right, my names Six. So there's Thad, then what's your name?"

Of course, he knows it's Six. But the boy could be one, two, forty-eight, or three hundred thousand twenty-one for all he cares, a number for a name was too tempting to pass up.

"Evan. Of MacMillan estate." He gives a quick wink of his eye before biting into another piece of steak.

Now that all of them properly introduced themselves, Evan lets his chair scrape back, disturbing the quick moment of the peace of dining. "So, Thad, Half-Dozen, how are you enjoying the Capitol so far? What's your favorite food you've tasted while here?" Evan dislikes small talk, but he finds it necessary here. It would be hypocritical for him to get up and leave simply because he's bored, what with the social responsibilities of a tribute and all. Might as well ask some thoughtful questions to look back on when he talks about the pair on his victory tour.

[Deleted]

As Evan spoke Six basically demolished the strawberry shortcake on his plate and had started eating the chocolate cheesecake that he had also grabbed. He was a dessert first and healthy food second kind of guy - after all, he didn't want to risk filling up on vegetables and not having room for his snacks, that would be a real tragedy. He thought about that questions that Evan was asking, they weren't easy questions for him to answer in all honesty. There were multiple ways he could answer each one.

He asked how he enjoyed the Capitol and Six wasn't sure. On one hand, the bed was super comfortable and the views from the windows were beautiful. But, within the beauty there was loneliness. He had been getting lonelier and lonelier as time went on. He wondered what his siblings were doing right now. And then there's also the training aspect of the Capitol, he decided that's what he would focus on. He could talk about the other tributes or his loneliness or his fears, but he didn't want to. Not yet.

Now for the food. The first thing that popped into his mind when he thought about the food was the abundance of it. There were foods here he didn't even know existed or he thought he'd never actually get to try before. His plate was stacked basically a mile high with food so it was pretty obvious that he liked it. He wondered if he being gone helped his family food wise. Now they had one less mouth to feed which can make a big difference with how big his family is. But, it could also make the large O'Malley Farm that much harder to run. He tried not to think about that as it would only make him feel more guilty.

"I like training more than I thought I would. Some of it has been hard, but things like first aid and medicinal plants just seem to come naturally to me. It's kind of fun... and the food is good too! My older brother Lock said the Capitol had amazing food and he wasn't wrong, I wish I could send all of them back home some somehow. What about you, Thad?"

Here Six was sort of opening up without really opening up, he was testing the waters. He wanted to make friends and he needed people who could protect him. If they agreed to ally together he was prepared to open up more, but this would work for now. He opened up about his stations, trying to show that he was useful. Proving he wouldn't just be deadweight. He also started opening up about his personal life by mentioning his brother Lock. He hoped maybe this would prompt the other two to open up a little too, even if it was just the tiniest bit.

[kap]

Thad Pepperwood

-----
"You're one step closer to the throne
King of nothing"

Evan introduced himself properly, and confirmed that I was correct about who he was, which was a relief. I hated being wrong, especially about people's names. It made me feel dumb when I couldn't remember someone's name or I called them the wrong thing. Evan, however, didn't seem to have a problem getting people's names wrong. He'd called Six 'Seven' initially, which seemed intentional, but who knows, I could have been wrong about that.

I could tell that Evan was the sarcastic type, and Six was too innocent for his own good. This was especially apparent when Evan asked Six and I how we were enjoying the Capitol so far and what we thought of the food. I was pretty sure that Evan didn't actually care what we thought, but Six didn't really seem to realize that. Six started spouting off about all the things that he enjoyed about the Capitol and it was really quite adorable, if I'm being totally honest. He reminded me of my brother Sammy.

Then, Six turned to me. He wanted to know what I thought. I let out a chuckle, and looked at Evan with a raised eyebrow, asking with my expression if he really cared. Then, I turned my attention back to Six with a kinder expression on my face.

"Well," I said. "It's not as exciting as I had hoped, but they gave us a nice place to crash at night. At least for us from Ten. The food's great, too."

I looked back and forth between the two of them, realizing that I should probably try to keep the conversation going.

"So, there's something else I think think we should focus on," I said between bites of a cupcake. "I had this thought that maybe," I looked at them hopefully. "we could team up or something. I don't know, it's just what popped into my head. So many people here are already grouped up, and I think we could all last longer as a team. I know that's kind-of out of nowhere, seeing as I don't even know if I can trust you guys, but I figure it's worth a shot, at least."

I doubted Evan would be down for the idea right away, but I supposed we'd find out. It was a thought that had run through my head earlier when I realized I'd be severely outnumbered by myself, and with how I was, I didn't tend to keep thoughts like that to myself. If any of the three of us loners wanted to live, we would probably have to be, well... not loners.

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lyrics: "King of Nothing" by Saint Asonia