Chapter Text
“Happy birthday, Blitzo!”
Blitzo brought his hands to his face, and rubbed at his eyes. It seemed that mornings were something you couldn’t evade, especially the mornings that coincided with birthdays and reaping days. When he finally opened his eyes he could see his twin sister staring right back at him- her hair already washed and tied up.
“Happy birthday, Barbie,” he replied with much less enthusiasm.
“You did say I could come wake you up,” she stated, tilting her head and grinning.
Blitzo thought back to the previous night and vaguely recalled something of the sorts, but he still wanted to stay in bed. Bed meant sleep, and sleep meant not having to haul a cart of bottles back to Mr Wackford. It also meant that he could pretend the later reaping ceremony wasn’t happening but he tried to squash that thought back to where it came from. Thoughts like that were dangerous.
Blitzo had seen the consequences of them first hand thanks to his boyfriend Fizz’s actions. Perks of being part of the Covey, a group of travelling performers that got stuck in District Twelve when the Capitol started setting up boundaries, meant that Fizz had his fair share of arguments with the peacekeepers. Usually it was a slap on the wrist and night in the jail but once there had been a peacekeeper that preferred using a belt to deal out punishments. He was long gone now, though. Thankfully. He wanted to see Fizz before the reaping, just in case either of them were chosen for The Hunger Games. They did this every year but for this one, the 50th, there would be double the amount of people reaped. And that meant the odds had gone up, or down, depending on how you looked at it. Realistically, Fizz would be fine. His uncle didn’t let him put his name in any extra times, despite the extra food you would receive for doing so. Blitzo wasn’t so lucky. He’d put his name in an extra time each month, just so that his Mama and Barbie would be fine. He couldn’t focus on that now, though. If he wanted to fit in a moment with Fizz, Blitzo would need to get up immediately.
Blitzo was relatively quick in getting dressed. He did splash his face with some lukewarm water, which his Mama had probably heated up on the stove for Barbie to wash her hair. And, he did put on his nicest shirt. It wasn’t fancy compared to the boys that lived closer to the town square, but it was a stark contrast to the frayed one that he usually wore. He said goodbye to Barbie and made sure to hug his Mama before heading out the door.
It took Blitzo half an hour to walk to the Hob, where he then spent another hour collecting empty glass bottles. He only cut himself on shattered glass once, which he counted as a win, and before long he was ready to head up to Mr Wackford’s house. The older man lived close to the town square, and had a makeshift brewery in his house. But, as his business was mainly under the table he didn’t have the means to acquire bottles. So that’s where Blitzo came into it. Every single morning he went past the Hob to see what the town’s drunkards had left behind. And then, after lugging them to Mr Wackford, he would spend the next hour soaking them in cold water and soap. Usually, he’d help the man with filling them too, but due to the nature of it being reaping day he was able to head off early.
“You’d better be here early tomorrow, boy,” he had grumbled as Blitzo had begun to walk off. The teenager had simply nodded before heading towards the edge of the town.
Fizz, and the rest of the Covey, lived as close to the fence as possible. It was probably to try and pretend they were still at one with the wilderness, and for that Blitzo could never judge them. He did however hold a slight grudge over how far it was from his house.
As he approached their house, Blitzo could see Fizz sat in a nearby tree. Well, sat would be the wrong word for it. Fizz was hanging upside down from the branches by his legs.
“Care to join me, Blitzo?” he asked, once he saw the other getting near.
Blitzo grinned and climbed up to the branch below him. From there, he could see his boyfriend’s face, and was at the perfect height to kiss him. He did so, before leaning against the trunk of the tree and closing his eyes.
“I wish we could stay here all day,” Blitzo whispered. He wasn’t sure if it was meant for Fizz, or the Universe but he truly meant it. Sat next to his partner, listening to the birds sing, watching the sun rise- life was great. Until, he looked slightly to his right and saw the incoming peacekeeper cars. They were heading to the square, preparing for the reaping. And realistically, Blitzo and Fizz should probably be heading there too.
“Can you imagine it?” Fizz asked, “A world where the sun rises without a reaping?”
Blitzo opened his eyes to stare at him. He couldn’t really fathom life without the Hunger Games. They’d been a constant in his life, and a constant in his Mama and Papa’s life too.
“You really think the President would ever let them stop?” Blitzo asked, with more than a hint of scepticism. The man was ruthless and everyone in District Twelve knew it.
“He would if people did something about them…”
Blitzo shrugged it off and moved to staring at the sky. The birds were circling above them, which would’ve been alarming if he didn’t know the affinity Fizz had with them. He’d give them shiny things and they seemed to like him back. They somewhat freaked him out, though. “We should go soon,” he decided, hoping his boyfriend would allow the change of topic for now, “the reaping starts in the next half hour.”
They both got down from the tree. Blitzo with the grace of a cat soaked in water, and Fizz as skillfully as always. Then, before heading over to the square, they kissed. Being gay might not be illegal in Panem but some people were still against it. You would have thought there were more pressing issues at hand but alas even those at the bottom of the ladder are often riddled with bigotry. To save the mental anguish of others even realising the two were both queer, they only acted like this when they were alone. No one but Blitzo’s Mama and Fizz's uncle knew that they were together. Barbie probably had some sort of idea about it but Blitzo was still scared shitless to tell her.
The walk to the square was silent. Not the calm, peaceful quietness that the pair often dissolved into but a more painful absence of noise. There was a distinct lack of laughter both from them and the crowds up ahead. Seeing children and teenagers so devoid of happiness was startling. Or it would be if this was not the norm. The only difference being how four families would go home in shambles tonight, instead of the usual two.
When the pair had finally made it to the crowd, they split up. Blitzo wanted to wish luck to his twin sister before the reaping. It wasn’t likely she would be reaped anyway but at this point it was a tradition that had so far prevented either of their names showing up on the pieces of paper. Fizz had disappeared to try and cover their tracks, which meant the two wouldn’t get to speak until after the ceremony. That was fine, though. Blitzo had a bag of sweets he had saved up for from the merchant’s sector, and after the reaping he was gonna surprise his boyfriend with them. Barbie and Blitzo hugged briefly before exchanging a few last words. Then, they split up to go to the different gender sections of the square.
Eternity came and went, whilst Blitzo waited for the reaping to begin. He wanted time to freeze so that the names never came but he also just wanted to leave. To be back near the meadow, lying on the ground eating sherbet lemons. Then he saw him. The usual escort for District Twelve wasn’t there. Instead, there was a new, younger-looking man. He had grey hair, with a streak of white, and wore a red waistcoat that probably cost more than Blitzo’s entire house. He looked like a complete and utter prick.
Blitzo zoned out for most of the opening speech. It was the same every year. But he tuned back in to hear the first girl’s name being called.
“Skye Henwood.”
Blitzo felt bad but he did sigh in relief. He just had to hear the second name being said and his sister was in the clear. The girl, Skye, walked up to the stage and stood next to the new escort awkwardly. You could tell she was holding back tears but something was stopping her. Blitzo somewhat got it. He wouldn’t want to make a fuss if Barbie was watching him. Maybe she also had a sister in the crowd.
The grey-haired man put his hand back into the bowl of names. He picked another piece of paper. He unravelled it before looking back at the crowd.
“Millie Fielder.”
That was a name that Blitzo recognised. The two weren’t friends. But, she was in the year below him in school. He was pretty sure Fizz would trade with her parents. However, he was thankful more than upset. Barbie was not going to be reaped. She survived the year of extra odds. Now he just had to get through the next two names. Hopefully, it wasn’t Fizz. And, hopefully it wasn’t him either.
“Moxxie Knolastname.”
Another name he somewhat knew. This was more distant than Millie, though. Moxxie was the son of Crimson Knolastname. And, Crimson… he made his money through bets. He even allowed bets on the Hunger Games. Blitzo was sure that his father was already cracking the numbers on how much betting on his son’s demise would be worth.
There was one more name to get through. And, the grey-haired man was already opening his mouth to say it when Blitzo finally realised this. Time was once again frozen. He could feel his heart in his throat. His shirt felt a lot heavier than it had before. His feet hurt from standing still for so long.
“Chazwick Thurman.”