bulls and bonfires.— [sofia/eurytion]

[Deleted]

Despite not doing very well at bull riding - and falling on my ass in front of a crowd of people - it was still fun to watch everyone else. After the event had ended, I went to the bonfire to get some lunch. That's when I spotted the guy who went first. He didn't look very happy, which was a stark contrast from the confidence he showed first getting on the bull. And it intrigued me.

As I said, I'm not impulsive I just don't always think things through. And I didn't have a plan as I sat next to him on a hay bale, holding a plate of food. I was hoping to see one of my family members, but while I waited for them maybe I could try to cheer him up. And I could figure out if he's ever ridden a bull before. Or maybe he's ridden horses, I have with papa back home.

I had a slight smile on my face as I looked the grump up and down. Cheering up grumpy people always went one or two ways. Either they were responsive to it and tried to pretend to be grumpy while suppressing a smile, or they got pissed off. If he got pissed off I felt confident in my ability to just get out of there quick. And if he was responsive? Maybe I'd make a new friend.

There's that Izar optimism again. The same blind faith in people my father has always had, I bet he still has some sort of faith in Uncle Elias even after everything that's happened between them. I took a sip of my drink, trying to figure out what to say to make this conversation go well. He did look confident before, maybe he just needs a little ego boost.

"Hola, you were in the bull riding, right? You probably don't remember me, I didn't do near as good as you. You looked really good on the bull, you looked confident. I'm Sofia Izar."

I almost didn't say my last name. Izar. Back home in Eleven that meant something. Vasco being my dad meant something. And sometimes, when your name means something, people treat you differently. But I was in Ten. Here the name Izar was unremarkable. I wasn't the daughter of the mayor, I was the girl who fell on her culo riding a bull. And I liked that.

I like that people find comfort in papa and see him as a symbol of hope in a once desolate place. But, that isn't always a good thing. I'm reminded of the time he almost got blown up on stage. I'm reminded of the faint whispers of peacekeepers whenever him and I pass them on walks. I'm reminded of how dangerous hope is in a place like Panem. And I'm thankful that the name Izar likely means little to this man, and the name Vasco means even less.

[kap]

E U R Y T I O N

When the girl first approached me I thought she was making fun of me. I was almost certain that I sensed that lick of sarcasm in her words, even if there was kindness in her tone. I decided to give her the benefit of the doubt, though. If she was being genuine, I didn't want to be rude and scare her off in return.

I just found it strange that she complimented me on my bull riding when I'd done so poorly in front of everyone just then. I gave her a slight smile. If she was truly being kind to me, I appreciated the gesture. Not many people were nice to me without some other type of motive, but she didn't seem to have that alternate motive. No, she just seemed like she wanted to be nice.

"Oh, uhm, thank you," I chuckled. "I appreciate the compliment. Usually I'd do much better than that but I suppose today must just not have been my day."

She introduced herself as Sofia Izar. I'd heard the name Izar before. I knew there were tributes with that name in the past, but otherwise it didn't really mean too much to people in Ten, or at least not myself. So, I didn't comment on it. It didn't feel necessary.

"I'm Eurytion, it's nice to meet you." I had a last name, but I hated it. That's why I never used it. I kept it off public records best I could, which was surprisingly easy in District Ten. Had I been reaped as a kid I'm sure they wouldn't have even said my last name.

Hopefully she didn't pry too much for my surname. Hopefully she was satisfied with just "Eurytion", or even "Eury".

"My family runs a rodeo here in Ten- that's why I seemed so confident. I guess I shouldn't have been though- these bulls were a bit different," I laughed. "So, beautiful Sofia, was it just the bull riding that drew you here to Ten, or was there something else?"

[Deleted]

He seemed surprisingly receptive to me, which was a relief. Papa has always had a talent for appealing to the humanity within people, keeping people calm and instilling hope in the hopeless. I have never had that gift, but it was nice to know I could make someone slightly less grumpy. Though, that pales in comparison to him or even mama. They both left quite a legacy to live up to.

He introduced himself, just a first name and no last name. Or, maybe it was his last name? I'm not sure, I was unfamiliar with it. It played over and over again in my mind, my brain struggling to figure out how to pronounce it. The sounds seemed foreign to my tongue, but I'd do my best.

Eurytion.

My mind was so fixated on the strange name, I hardly noticed when the conversation had moved on. Then again, I remember back in school before the Izars meant anything. Papa was just a poor man and mama was the fool who married into poverty rather than out of it. Teachers in school would always stumble over my last name, and I had even heard someone call Raquel "Rachelle" at one point.

He was explaining that his family owned a rodeo in town. Which, explained the confidence and the subsequent disappointment coming from him. I couldn't blame him too much for that. I was bummed about how poorly I had done and I had never seen a bull up close before. I thought about saying that, but then I opted to drop that conversation all again. I was about to interject, when he referred to me as "beautiful Sofia". Man had guts, I'll give him that.

"Eur- Eurie- Eure- Eur-e-t-ion. Eury, sorry about that."

Just as I had feared, the disconnect between what I had heard him say and what I said was there. Part of the issue was my tongue kept trying to roll the 'R' in his name. I was certain it wasn't supposed to be rolled, but time after time my tongue kept opting to roll it. So I stuck with Eury, a compromise between my mind and my mouth.

"I actually hadn't planned on bull riding, just something sorta spur of the moment. My father is a prominent figure back in District Eleven, so it's kind of expected we show up. Plus, I'll take any opportunity to travel I can get. Meeting cute bull riders was just a bonus."

I didn't want to lie, but I also didn't necessarily want to straight out say that my father was the mayor of the district. Maybe I was downplaying him a little, but I didn't want to scare away Eury if he was a genuinely nice guy - and I didn't want to attract him for the wrong reasons if he wasn't such a nice man. So I quickly moved past papa and onto him. One thing you learn working at a salon is people love to talk about themselves.