Beginnings and endings // skittlekat

Today was one of those rare, strange days. A day when he waltzed into the factory, like he usually did, sat at his station, like he usually did, and worked. Like he usuallly did. What made it extraordinary- while he was reading the tiny needles engraved within the pressure valves, his supervisor came around and instead of yelling for him to work harder, or clean his station or something esle mind-numbingly dull, he ordered Drake to go home, and play with his younger sister.

He left, a little nervous as he passed his father, who gave the fourteen year old a coy smile, and a wink- like he had something to do with the spontaneous day off.


So now, here he stood, watching the little seven and ten year olds climb about the few scarce trees while he sat in the park, the young seven year old male stopping, glancing at the sleeping form of the girl on the bench. "Drake!" he called, right beside her ear, in the innocent way children do. "Why is she asleep outside!?"

If the initial calling of his name didn't wake her up, That certainly did... He thought to himself, stepping forward, exhaling deeply as he looked down at the girl, pulling the underweight boy against his side. "Leave her alone, she looks like she had a hard day's chores- like you will if you don't go play somewhere else."

With a scowl, the youngest scampered off, taking the hand of the little girl as he wandered away, his hands colliding with a nearby tree, attempting to scale the height. "Oh gosh, I'm so sorry. He's young, y'know... I don't think he's... Quite right. Do you want me to take them somewhere else so you can sleep?" he questioned her, looking so incredibly guilty.

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He offered her the kindest smile he could muster, his lips parting slightly as he exhaled, the sigh floating out of his mouth with ease. From behind him, the shrieks of the children playing tag echoed to the pair as his hand extended, noticing just now the black under his fingernails. Father has the same grime...

He gently took her hands in his grasp, offering a not-too-firm shake; the girl was a lady, after all. She kind of reminded him of a grown up Jenna. "Pleasure to meet you, Rayne. My name is Drake. The boy over there, that's Sunny. He's young. The girl is Genevieve, but she prefers Jenna or Jenny." His hands fell to his sides as he watched the two, the male starting to climb one of the low-branched trees, teasing the girl who pouted, and attempted to follow- but because of her dress, felt too sub-conscious to follow.

"They're my siblings." he murmured with a low sigh, a maturity and knowledge beyond his years shining in his eyes. "Do you have any brothers or sisters, Rayne?" he questioned, wondering if perhaps, that were part of the reason she was so... Calm about them disturbing her nap. Most citizens of the district really did need their sleep, and any opportunity was happily taken to do so.

She looked young- a little too young to be out at the park alone, unless she were running from something. He'd met a few of them, a few radical thinkers who couldn't stand being in the factory for much longer and simply took off to live off of the streets, or in the massive forests bordering the southern half of the district. He'd never seen them himself, never even left this part of the district.

Suddenly, he felt too hot, too overdressed in his work-issued trench jacket, carefully shaking it from his broad shoulders, and in its place was a plaid button-up shirt with a bleach stain on the left breast, the sleeves way too long for his arms pushed to his elbows. His denim pants seemed to be held up by a length of long twine, wrapped twice around his skinny waist. He tossed it onto the girl's bench, over the top, and sat just before it, leaning back comfortably, his arms dangling over the back of the elongated chair. A nice, warm breeze slid by, ruffling his dark hair, and a stupid smirk weaved its way onto Drake's face.

He loved the weather this way, but he loved rain even more- it'd been a while since they'd had a torrential downpour.

Oh god... What if she had a tribute brother? he mentally kicked himself for asking all the wrong questions at all the wrong times. A grim expression passed over his countenance, and he quietly nodded. "Yeah... Yeah, I'm fifteen." His own youth surprised him. There was no way he could only be fifteen, only fifteen summers passing between his birth and now.

Wow. Nervously, he swallowed, his hands falling into his lap, clapping together, knuckles growing pale with the pressure he put on the joints. A quiet groan slipped through, and his chocolate gaze rose to rest on his younger sister and brother. Soon, he would not be able to volunteer for them, and that worried him so. The pair of them were so young- they did not yet understand the way of the world, they have not yet had friends and family ripped away from them by the capitol, sent to die like lambs to the slaughter.

"I've always been bad with ages, but... How old are you, what? No older than... Thirteen I wanna say?" Heh. He was never too good with ages, to be honest. Everyone always seemed to have deep bags under their eyes, and they all were far younger than they actually looked.

"Oh, fourteen." Drake nodded his head happily, copper eyes focusing on a point in the distance, closing only slightly to enjoy the warmth on his face stolen by a gentle gust of wind. "Sunny is seven, and Jenna is..." he swallowed, looking down at his lap. "She's twelve."

Her first reaping would be coming up soon, and Drake knew he could not volunteer for the young girl if she were sent. He knew of no one who would claim to go in her place, either. His hands bounced, eyes watching the young ones play tag together. He couldn't imagine Jenna in an arena, terrified out of her mind, crying for her non-existent mother. An ugly look came to his face, a mix of disgust and the slightest hint of fear.

Switch the topic. Anything. Something. "She's learning how to play the flute in music." he said finally, offering an extremely forced smile. "She carries it everywhere. She seems so excited to learn how to play better."

"What do you do in your free time? Any... hobbies?"

And indeed, he would have appreciated knowing she would take Jenna's place in a heartbeat. Alas, she was not yet comfortable sharing that information juuuust yet. Sighing, his hand fell to rest on his knee, watching Sunny climb higher into his tree. "I enjoyed reading when I had time for it." he said, offering a cheesy smile. "But now I only have time for tiny tidbits of poetry." He nodded pleasantly, and recited quietly- "Night falls upon us, Serenity and silence, fills the chill, chill air."

"It's dumb, I know... But I like Haikus. I have so many, and they're so easy to remember, y'know?" He grinned, eyes flashing eagerly. "I work at the factory most days, so... While I'm sitting, doing my job, I have to figure something out to... Well... Keep me occupied." Indeed, the boring job was absolutely... Well, mundane. His lips twitched upwards, and he turned to face her, his gaze finally slipping away from his siblings antics.

He finally got a good look at Rayne- she was pretty, but had a harshness about her, something that... Offset her delicate demeanor. His mind struggled, gears turning, trying to find a safe topic to tread upon. The awkward silence was worse than his stuttering, so, he parted his lips, and questioned. "Eh.... Uhhm..... So... Do... Do you come here... Often? To this park?"

Indeed, it was peaceful. Overhed, a bird chirped, echoing happiness loudly into the sky. Drake was jealous- it could be free, flutter anywhere in Panem it wanted. It had no fear of family taken by other birds, of any darkness in men's hearts. He smiled nervously, and glanced back to Rayne. "I wish I could. I usually only get one or two days off a week. I spend those helping the two little ones with work."

He'd dropped out of school a few years ago, but because of Jenna, was able to keep up with schooling through her work. Together, they hammered out math problems and read about the history of the nation and about how the capitol was the only 'Pure' area of Panem. he uttered a low sigh, and allowed his gaze to fall once again against Rayne. "you know how it is, how hard everyone has to work around here." He shared a smile, and turned back to the kids, where Sunny leaped out of the tree magnificently, face-planting into a patch of grass.

He lay there for a moment, unmoving, though Drake seemed unphased, simply cringing away with a small chuckle. Sunny bounced right back up after a moment and sprinted after Jenna, who was curiously looking over his shoulder. "I swear, that boy knows how to take a hit..." He sighed, and laughed, shaking his head. He really, really, had no idea what to ask the girl now.

(Sorry I haven't replied yet, I was trying to make a table for him but I can't get any good pics of Issac yet. xD I'mma let him age a little more then go again in a few months.)

His hands tapped a rhythm on his legs, his mind wandering through the darkest corners it could find. He recalled the soft smile of his mother, and how this girl seemed to resemble that warmth ever so slightly. She radiated a warmth he could not explain, and for the first time in many, many years, he felt comfortable in the company of a complete stranger. A radical, rash thought broke into his mind as he thought about their stores and the Tesserae he took out.

They had more than enough to feed them all between his father's pay, his own, and the spare he took out this year. But should he ask, or should he hold off? His heart did the tiniest of flips in his ribs, another something he could not explain. He wondered, What if she decided she hated him, like so many of his friends once he left school? He did not have the time to spend on them, how could he have time to spend on a girl? Well... Maybe...

His weight shifted so his shoulder pointed towards the children, and his gaze could rest against her eyes without any force. "So... Uhm... We're having stew for dinner, and we've got an extra plate... Just... Just in case you have nothing to do." He cursed himself for his awkward way of talking, his eyes flickering down to his knee as he swallowed nervously. He did not want to just let this girl go. She was the first non-work, non-family entity to pay him any attention at all in a very, very long time. "I don't want you to feel obligated or anything... But Jenna makes a pretty mean stew."

Oh gods, she was going to say no. She was going to laugh and point and fly off. His gaze fell to the kids once again, his cheeks growing red with anticipation, resisting the urge to keep talking, to attempt to convince this incredibly pretty girl to have dinner with him.