Who needs friends when your me (Wonder)

Peridot swiftly lost his breath as the brutish boy gripped him by his shoulders. It came unexpectedly and Peri found himself shuddering under the grip of Xander. There was nothing that he hated quite more than people touching him that he didn’t want touching him and not only did he grab him, but he had the nerve to come up to his face and shout in his face. He wasn’t a child anymore, he wasn’t about to be the child that he used to be, bullied without standing back up for himself. But still, as Xander grasped him he felt as though once again he was the helpless little victim that he was four years ago.

"I don't know what the hell a Lapis Lazuli is, but it sounds stupid. You just opened yourself up for a sound thrashing punk. Of course I'll give you one chance to say something that makes sense, something complimentary." Peri could almost feel the spit flying at his face. Each word came out with such force as it was launched directly at his face. He felt the rage that he’d just calmed building up once again inside of him but he still didn’t want to fight. Being whipped was not something he was ever planning on experiencing in his life. He’d seen the faces of all the kids and the adults who’d be whipped before, the pure pain that spread across their faces and the shame as they were whipped in front of their peers.

Peri had only recently started receiving respect and he wasn’t about to lose it because Xander was stupid enough to duke it out in the streets. They weren’t District 12 here, District 1 was the most respectable next to the Capitol. Xander let him go mid-thought which made him fall back suddenly, tripping and falling once again on his ass. He could feel his cheeks growing red from the shame and frustration he was experiencing. Did Xander not realize the consequences? Peri watched as he backed up and went into a fighting position, waving him towards him. Feeling like a child as he watched the older boy standing above him that he whimpered, “Stop..”

He pushed himself up and just stared at the other boy. “If you want to get whipped go ahead but I’m not going to.” He backed away slightly from the boy. “Grow a few brain cells and realize that the Peacekeepers will whip us till we’re blue in the face. Fighting is for training and the arena.” He turned away almost timidly, he hadn’t felt so stupid in his life. However, he still wanted to say one thing. “The Lapis Lazuli is a gemstone. You’re eyes look like the Lapis Lazuli. It’s a nice gem, I was trying to be nice.”

Peri felt almost stupid for getting so hyped up over a fight. This had only happened before in his childhood and he wasn’t a child anymore. He wasn’t a child anymore. He repeated that sentence over and over in his head so many times just so that it would stick. But Peri often found himself living in the past, living as the little boy who couldn’t do what he wanted to do, the little boy who couldn’t stand up for himself. Which is why he had to repeat that one sentence, he had to be someone different, and he often felt as if he was better though he wasn’t sure. Why had he broken down in front of the big idiot? It was immature and stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Peri sucked in his gut and composed himself, he couldn’t do this anymore. He was a man, well, slowly becoming one, and he couldn’t go on behaving like this. It was the long hours. Training and working, then barely any sleep and repeat. Adding school into the mix there didn’t make it any better. He was supposed to be a ruthless career but he was anything but lately.

As soon as he’d gained control of his emotions, Xander had made his way back over to him. "You're right, I'm not going to apologize for my actions though. I haven't apologized to anyone ever." He hadn’t even been expecting that, careers don’t apologize. Well, Xander hadn’t apologized but the whole sentence was almost made as an apology. Without particularly really caring so much at what he’d done, as much as how he’d reacted, Peri took Xander’s hand when he offered it and shook it.

"The name is Xander Thrash, I believe that I yelled that at you. I'm not the sharpest tack either so you'll have to excuse my mistaking the Lapis Lazuli." Peri smiled and stepped back, not wanting to get too close to the brute no matter how nice he was being. “Peri Myler, I yelled at you first.” Peri remembered his fall and his face turned red. “I’m pretty much all that and a bag of chips and don’t worry about the Lapis Lazuli, not many people know about it.”

Peri had been overworking himself a lot lately. Between school, work, and training he seldom had a moment to himself. It was becoming a routine that was almost unhealthy. The routine would also explain why he was very unlike himself lately. He was emotional, talking a lot more, and his cynicism was at an all time low. The whole situation was a little bizarre, maybe he needed some time off.

“..You said your name was Peri, how come I've never seen you around. I thought I knew all the competition I had in District 1..” Typical career, thinking he knew everyone and everything about every person in their District. Not everyone was so out there in their training. Peri didn’t try and make a name for himself, he knew he was good, and he didn’t need people pining after him because he was. He’d never heard of Xander Thrash in his life. There were numerous training places around the District and seldom did you ever hear about careers from different facilities. Even though Xander though he was all that and that every household knew his name, that wasn’t the case. Stupid careers.

He was almost surprised as he invited him to take a walk. Maybe that was what Peri needed. A break from everything would be very welcome at the moment. He nodded towards Xander and started rewalking his originally planned path across the snow covered bridge. He shuddered once again under Xander’s grip as the boy threw his arm around him. It was such an uncomfortable feeling he didn’t know what to do except keep walking. “Well, I’m Peri Myler. I work, I train, I go to school.” He shrugged Xander’s arm off of his shoulder and sidestepped a bit before walking again. “There’s really nothing to know.” Almost insulted by the suggestion that Xander would instantly forget most things about him anyways, he left it at that. He wasn’t really going to waste his breath on someone who didn’t care. But out of respect, he asked the same thing back. “What about you, Xandar Thrash? What is there to know about you besides that you’re a dimwitted monkey?”

Typical career, dropping out of school. Was he really so confident in his chances to go into the games that he’d never have to actually obtain an education? The chances of going in to the Games were slim themselves, but actually winning was an entirely different ordeal altogether. Peri often prided himself on his superior intellect. He had worked very hard to ensure that should he not actually become a victor, that he’d be able to support himself freely for the rest of his life in a completely legal manner.

Also, did Xander not realize that the Games weren’t a pure manner of brutal strength? It took brains and brawn to actually accomplish something. There was seldom a situation where a big brute won, and even then that was pure luck. More and more, it seemed, that the clever tribute were the ones that won in the long run. Which is why Peri not only trained his body to work in hard situations, he also stimulated his brain to work wonders as well. He almost wanted to prove himself against this kid. Sure, he was a nice enough guy, but he wasn’t all there and there was nothing more Peri wanted to do then put him in his place.

“I train in the basement of the necklace factory.” Peri had been working there for a while now. As a kid, he often watched the older kids train when he was visiting his mother at work. They’d rented out the basement so that they could bring in a little extra income, and it brought in quite a bit of extra money. Peri really wanted to fight Xander now, he could feel a small fire lighting itself in his belly, he hadn’t typically been one to think with his fist, but why not? “You know Xander, we can head over there and spar, if you’d like of course.” Though Peri knew he was the type of guy you wouldn’t pass the opportunity up.

Perfect, upon Xander’s acceptance, Peri was filled with an unexplainable joy. It was something he’d become more aware of lately which worried him quite a bit. The feeling of a fight, the rush of adrenaline, and Xander and him hadn’t even started fighting yet. It was a bizarre sensation. He began trudging towards the factory, thusly the training center. Now he’d for sure be late going home and he’d most likely show up with bruises this time, his mother never liked that, that’s for sure.
The training area had lost its sense of sadistic magic to Peri. When he had originally started coming here to train, the whole place scared him to death. The weapons looming across from already shredded dummies, wrestling mats, running track, it was all very overwhelming at first. He had no idea on where to start really. He had changed from the small little boy he used to be. This place, though it was dark and used for such a horrible purpose had become a home.
He turned towards Xander as he walked over to the wrestling mat. It really did need to be cleaned. It had little specs of dust everywhere and little bits of dried up blood. But in reality, some stains could never be cleaned no matter how hard you tried. The smell of the training center was really quite honestly putrid. The blood could also be blamed for that, well, that and the body odour of teenagers. It was awful. “So ready to fight?”