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31_days2012-12-07 02:47 pm
seta-suzume.livejournal.com) wrote in 31_days2012-12-07 02:47 pm
[Dec. 7] [The Hunger Games] District 6 Gives Up / Strung Out
Title: District 6 Gives Up / Strung Out
Day/Theme: Dec. 7, 2012 "I'm already dead to you but I'm inclined to explain"
Series: The Hunger Games
Character/Pairing: OCs
Rating: PG-13
Author's comment: The first (but not necessarily "#1") in a collection of stories about the 13th Hunger Games from the point of view of the mentors a la 'Save Yourself' and my other fics on this topic. (As is evident from the title, this one focuses on District 6)
---District 6 Gives Up
In the Thirteenth Hunger Games, District 6 had one tribute off a rail-laying crew and one the daughter/assistant of a washerwoman. Neither of them had as much spunk as the girl from the year before. They were more akin to the non-standout boy.
Sunny Lightfoot (sternly reminding herself yet again that she was Sunny Lightfoot- the real, the only Sunny Lightfoot) looked them over as they were called and bit her lip. And as Teejay Atticus, her fellow victor, barely looked at them at all, Sunny's was the face that the cameras and, soon after, the editors, focused on. 6 did not look good even in the eyes of 6. This did not bode well for their odds.
Again, on the tribute train, Sunny Lightfoot bit her lip when the boy with the callouses and the girl with the chapped, red hands were tucked away in bed. Could she lie to herself convincingly, at least for a little while, that they had a chance at this in them? And, even if she could, should she?
She looked at Teejay, passed out on a couch. She thought about not-Sunny, locked away in some Capitol madhouse. She considered herself, picked to replace her.
You lost when you won. Not just when you were from District 6, but from anywhere. So, Sunny decided, she would tell them the truth, the best as she could (the other Sunny could not, could never, be mentioned). It was up to them whether or not to believe her. "If you want to live, I will do my best to help you, but it might be worth it to consider merely finding the least painful way you can to die." Those were the words she chose to share with them.
The Capitol had to have a victor, but District 6 didn't.
That year, the boy believed her and the girl didn't. Sunny "let" Teejay mentor the boy while she took the girl.
The boy died quickly.
The girl died slow.
---Strung Out
Ever since Sunny, Teejay just figured "Leave everything to Sunny."
For the Thirteenth Games, that meant he got the boy.
The boy was strong, he could have been a contender, but he knew, somehow or other, what it would mean, what it would be to win and become a victor, and that he didn't want that. It was good, Teejay thought, to be decisive. And the boy had picked something that he could probably get. If you wanted to be the victor, you might not be. If you didn't want to be the victor, you probably wouldn't be (but wouldn't that be a sight to see?).
Teejay wasn't sure what made the boy decide. Was it something he'd seen or was it maybe something Sunny had told him? Sunny was always telling the tributes things. Were they good things or bad things? Sunny talked too fast. It was hard for him to listen to her. She moved fast too, always a blur of tan and brown and colorful clothes.
The boy was easier to talk to. He seemed to understand how things were for Teejay. He spoke slowly. "Does the morphling help?"
"Yeah," Teejay nodded for a long time, longer than he needed to.
"Do you think about your sister much?"
"Yeah, that too. Too much, too much."
"Why'd they reap her, you think? Was it on purpose or did it just happen?" The boy was a thinker, not just a worker. That was why he'd made the choice he did regarding the fate he might have, Teejay guessed. He was smarter than Teejay thought he had been at that age. It would be harder if you were smart. It was always harder if you were smart- Games or no Games.
"On purpose, probably." There was no reason to be dishonest and withhold this negative opinion. "Something I did, probably."
"I like you better than Sunny," the boy said, "I'm glad that I got you."
"I like you too," Teejay answered, "You ever gotten a dose of morphling before?"
If he'd been allowed, he'd have sent the boy into the Games high.
Day/Theme: Dec. 7, 2012 "I'm already dead to you but I'm inclined to explain"
Series: The Hunger Games
Character/Pairing: OCs
Rating: PG-13
Author's comment: The first (but not necessarily "#1") in a collection of stories about the 13th Hunger Games from the point of view of the mentors a la 'Save Yourself' and my other fics on this topic. (As is evident from the title, this one focuses on District 6)
---District 6 Gives Up
In the Thirteenth Hunger Games, District 6 had one tribute off a rail-laying crew and one the daughter/assistant of a washerwoman. Neither of them had as much spunk as the girl from the year before. They were more akin to the non-standout boy.
Sunny Lightfoot (sternly reminding herself yet again that she was Sunny Lightfoot- the real, the only Sunny Lightfoot) looked them over as they were called and bit her lip. And as Teejay Atticus, her fellow victor, barely looked at them at all, Sunny's was the face that the cameras and, soon after, the editors, focused on. 6 did not look good even in the eyes of 6. This did not bode well for their odds.
Again, on the tribute train, Sunny Lightfoot bit her lip when the boy with the callouses and the girl with the chapped, red hands were tucked away in bed. Could she lie to herself convincingly, at least for a little while, that they had a chance at this in them? And, even if she could, should she?
She looked at Teejay, passed out on a couch. She thought about not-Sunny, locked away in some Capitol madhouse. She considered herself, picked to replace her.
You lost when you won. Not just when you were from District 6, but from anywhere. So, Sunny decided, she would tell them the truth, the best as she could (the other Sunny could not, could never, be mentioned). It was up to them whether or not to believe her. "If you want to live, I will do my best to help you, but it might be worth it to consider merely finding the least painful way you can to die." Those were the words she chose to share with them.
The Capitol had to have a victor, but District 6 didn't.
That year, the boy believed her and the girl didn't. Sunny "let" Teejay mentor the boy while she took the girl.
The boy died quickly.
The girl died slow.
---Strung Out
Ever since Sunny, Teejay just figured "Leave everything to Sunny."
For the Thirteenth Games, that meant he got the boy.
The boy was strong, he could have been a contender, but he knew, somehow or other, what it would mean, what it would be to win and become a victor, and that he didn't want that. It was good, Teejay thought, to be decisive. And the boy had picked something that he could probably get. If you wanted to be the victor, you might not be. If you didn't want to be the victor, you probably wouldn't be (but wouldn't that be a sight to see?).
Teejay wasn't sure what made the boy decide. Was it something he'd seen or was it maybe something Sunny had told him? Sunny was always telling the tributes things. Were they good things or bad things? Sunny talked too fast. It was hard for him to listen to her. She moved fast too, always a blur of tan and brown and colorful clothes.
The boy was easier to talk to. He seemed to understand how things were for Teejay. He spoke slowly. "Does the morphling help?"
"Yeah," Teejay nodded for a long time, longer than he needed to.
"Do you think about your sister much?"
"Yeah, that too. Too much, too much."
"Why'd they reap her, you think? Was it on purpose or did it just happen?" The boy was a thinker, not just a worker. That was why he'd made the choice he did regarding the fate he might have, Teejay guessed. He was smarter than Teejay thought he had been at that age. It would be harder if you were smart. It was always harder if you were smart- Games or no Games.
"On purpose, probably." There was no reason to be dishonest and withhold this negative opinion. "Something I did, probably."
"I like you better than Sunny," the boy said, "I'm glad that I got you."
"I like you too," Teejay answered, "You ever gotten a dose of morphling before?"
If he'd been allowed, he'd have sent the boy into the Games high.