Chapter Text
Invincible Gaultier, 19
They/Them
For the first time ever, the four of them were having dinner together.
It was a square table, one seat on each edge. Behind Dimitri, the window was open, letting a summer breeze wander in. Vince could hear the bugs screeching in the grass just beyond it. Faded wallpaper covered the walls, and their chair creaked every time they shifted their weight.
There was no conversation for several minutes. They could feel Jem steadily avoiding them, and Mallory's glances back and forth between them. What bothered them more, though, was the silence hanging in the air. The longer it went on, the stiffer Vince became.
Finally, they thought they might explode.
"So what's the plan?" they asked, looking at Dimitri.
"The plan?"
"What are you going to do with me?" they asked. "Like, are we gonna go anywhere, or should I consider this a kidnapping…?"
Jem scoffed. Vince ignored him.
Mallory exchanged a glance with Dimitri. "I- I wouldn't call it that," she said.
"So I can leave?"
"That's not a good idea," Dimitri said.
"Sounds like kidnapping, then," Vince remarked.
"You're not well," Mallory hurried.
"Not yet," Vince said. "But after that."
"That would depend," Mallory said. "Is there something you wanted to do?"
"Other than go home," Dimitri added.
Mallory gave him a look.
"What?" Dimitri asked. "They should know. It's too dangerous for them to go back to One-"
Vince held up a hand. "I'm not really interested," they said.
Mallory's eyebrows shot up. "You're not-?"
Vince pressed their lips together. "Also not interested in talking about it!" they said, as cheerily as they could manage.
(Every time they thought of One, it felt like someone had knotted their ribs together.
Even if they wanted to go back, they couldn't. That was as far as they ever let their thoughts go.)
"So what's the rush, then?" Dimitri asked.
Vince shrugged. "There isn't one," they answered. "I was just wondering."
Mallory nodded. "That's fair," she said.
Jem finally spoke. "So I can't go to Nine either."
"You'd get caught," Dimitri said. "We'd all get killed."
Jem chewed his lip. "Mm."
"The people you'd be going back to would get killed, too," Dimitri said.
"Not people," Jem replied. "Just one."
Vince arched an eyebrow. "Who?"
They were met with a resounding glare. "Why do you care?"
"I don't. I'm bored," they replied.
Mallory tried to interject. "I don't think-"
"I have a friend," Jem said, almost spitting. "Why? Planning on killing her, too?"
Vince rolled their eyes. "Please."
"The others weren't enough for you?"
Vince raised their hands in mock surrender. "Oh my god, I killed some people in the Hunger Games! How could I!"
"Jest was defenseless-"
"Insane take-"
"-and Jude was twelve," Jem said, positively seething. "Twelve years old! And- and True, and Chevre, and-"
"Sure," Vince said, "sure, but when it comes to Aveline, who gives a shit, that doesn't even count, I bet-"
"That was defense-"
"Funny! I remember it differently-"
"Stop!" Dimitri shouted, overcoming them both with sheer volume.
They fell quiet.
"That's enough," he said, his voice terse. He took a deep breath. "Everyone at this table has killed. Everyone. Kids die in the Games. That's nothing new."
Jem's eyes were glistening, and Vince thought he might cry. "They were my friends," he said.
"I know," Dimitri answered.
"None of them did anything wrong," Jem said. "Why didn't you save them instead?"
Mallory was biting her lip. "It was complicated," she said. "We did what we could."
Jem buried his head in his hands. No one had anything to say to that.
Silence descended upon them again, making the hairs on the back of Vince's neck rise. There was only the sound of their own breathing and the bugs screeching outside the window.
Vince pushed their chair back and stood. They cleared their throat. "I'm done."
Mallory opened her mouth, looking ready to say something, but Vince left before she could.
Tisiphone Fotis, 18
Victor of the 97th Hunger Games
She was alone in the house. Her sisters were out with friends, and Ari had promised to take Elpis to the beach. If she looked out the back window she could see them together with the dog at the water's edge. The sun was high in the sky, making the sea sparkle brighter than Capitol sequins.
So when the phone rang in the kitchen, she was the only one around to answer it.
"Hello?"
"Do me a favor and hang up the phone."
She wrinkled her nose. "What-"
"I'm trying to prove a point. Hang up."
She glanced at the phone number. "You're the one who swore at me. The Victor."
"No-"
"Yes you did."
"-it was at the idea of you," he finished. She remembered the voice as disdain crept into it.
"The idea of me," Tisiphone repeated. "I don't even know who you are, and you're calling me to say you hate me."
"It's Esper. There. Now you know," he answered.
"What am I supposed to say to that?"
"You're supposed to hang up," Esper said. "Which you still haven't."
"Which would be a favor to you…?"
"Yes," Esper said, "as I already told you."
Tisiphone considered that. "Then I'm not doing it."
"Excuse me?"
"I'm not hanging up," Tisiphone said.
"Look, this is really in both of our best interests," Esper said. "The longer this goes on, the more likely I'll have to call you again. Neither of us want that."
"You're the one who hates me," Tisiphone pointed out.
"So?"
"So calling back is more of an issue for you. I don't care what you do."
"Just stop picking up," Esper snapped.
"Stop calling!" Tisiphone pushed back. "This is your problem!"
"I'm aware," Esper said. "Which is why I told you to stop."
"I- I have enough going on," Tisiphone said. She was squeezing the receiver so hard it hurt. "I don't need this-"
"So hang up the phone, you fucking-"
The line went quiet.
"You can say it," Tisiphone said.
(It couldn't have been anything that wasn't said already.)
"Hello?"
The voice was different now. It was deeper, without the sharp edges. Male still, but it belonged to someone else.
"You're not Esper," she said.
"I'm not," he answered. "I'm sorry about him. I'm not sure what happened, but it sounded out of line."
Tisiphone shrugged, then realized he couldn't hear that. "It wasn't, um… anything new."
The man on the other end let out an exasperated breath. It was similar to the one Tisiphone had directed at her sisters plenty of times. "I'm sorry. I'll talk to him."
"Who are you?"
"This is Townes," the man answered. "Esper is my husband."
"Oh."
"Are you alright?"
Her chest clenched. Tisiphone looked down, forcing herself to breathe. "What, um… do you mean?"
"This is Tisiphone, right?" he asked.
"...Yes."
"I hope things get better for you soon," Townes told her. "They will. It's hard to see, but they will."
(He meant it. She could hear it in his voice. He wasn't just saying it to say it, he wanted her to know and he meant it. He really believed things would get better.)
"Tisiphone?"
(What even was better? Her mother wasn't coming back. Her father wasn't coming back. The lighthouse was empty and neglected. Her sister wouldn't acknowledge her. Her leg was gone.)
"Tisiphone?" he asked again. "I think we've upset you. I'm going to go now, okay? Take care."
Townes ended the call with a click. Tisiphone's hand dropped to her lap, the receiver hanging loosely in her fingers.
(The despair was rising again, replacing everything else. She was so sick of hatred and being hated, but what else was left? She'd lost too much of what mattered. Any time she thought about it, it became overwhelming. Tisiphone had let the light go out, she'd let it die, and now everything was so so dark. The light came back sometimes but it was never enough to keep the despair away, just enough that it left spotty residue against the back of her eyelids but not so much she could see by and she just wanted to go away not look at it float away away away-)
"Tisiphone?"
Ari crouched in front of her, flecks of sand in his beard and concern in his brow. The sun was setting in the window behind him, and Elpis stood next to her chair, wrapped in a towel that dragged on the floor behind him.
"Did something happen?" Ari asked. "Did Ally come back?"
She was too tired to flinch. "...No."
He finally noticed the phone in her hand. "Victor called?"
She didn't answer that, which he took as an answer. He replaced the phone on its hook.
"El," Ari said, "meet me upstairs, okay?"
"No bath," Elpis said.
"Yes bath," Ari said. "You've still got sand all over you."
"No!" Elpis shouted. He took off running, disappearing deeper into the house.
Ari watched him leave, then looked back at her. "I'll handle that in a minute," he said. "Do you want to lay down?"
Tisiphone managed a nod. Ari wheeled her to her room, turning on her bedside lamp before he left. The dog followed them in, settling beside her chair.
"I'll come back in an hour or so, okay?" he told her.
"Okay," she muttered.
Ari nodded and headed out, shutting her door behind him. She could hear his footsteps fade as he went to track down her little brother, who was almost definitely hiding in Ari's closet.
She didn't bother getting herself into bed. She knew she didn't have the energy. Instead she pulled her blanket off the bed, curling up in her chair and closing her eyes.
Her sleep, like always, was gray.