I Think I Need a Devil // {Mr. Falcon

whispering like it's a secret, only to condemn the one who hears it
with a heavy heart

Genie was a bit of a rabbit when it came to authority. Or anyone, really. But she rarely ever got that feeling. Over the years of apprenticeship with her Uncle she had met more than her fair share of Peacekeepers. After all, they were the ones most likely to use and admire the pistols. It took years, quite literally, but now she felt almost at ease around them. Almost. Except of course they could lock her up at any moment. And Genie wasn't a fool. She knew it was better to respect authority and keep her mouth shut than to run wild like some of the kids at her school, especially when some of them disappeared.

Even knowing all of this, though, she still sometimes found her thoughts darkening towards rebellion and had to catch herself. And then, with the chills... perhaps she'd been thinking too much lately about the games. But no one could read her thoughts, right? Not yet, anyhow. She was absolutely positive the Capitol would be working on a way to develop that ability, too. Possibly in a muttation.

Genie shivered despite the heat. Except it wasn't all that warm for her, not after a life spent in the smithy. Still, with summer creeping past, it wasn't cold either. No something definitely had tickled her sense. She brushed her hair over her shoulder casually, opening up her field of view. But it wasn't enough. Nothing was coming near the hoverpad. Damnable twos and threes.

She made a great show of checking on the boxes, which allowed her to twist her flexible torso. And then she saw it. A strange flash of shadow on a building. Genie squinted, her mouth forming into a perfect 'o'. A Peacekeeper? Climbing? She stood startled, a deer in the headlights, watching his precarious plight.

whispering like it's a secret, only to condemn the one who hears it
with a heavy heart

Genie stood dumbstruck as he made another swipe at the building. What was he doing? She couldn't even begin to guess. She wasn't the type to be prone to flights of fancy and nothing that her rational mind proposed seemed even vaguely reasonable. In some way it was a little funny, because he clearly needed help getting something. But she was very careful to bury that thought almost as soon as it arose.

And when he straightened and marched towards her, Genie assumed the proper position. Chin ducked, eyes cast aside, hands together in front of her body where he could see them. She had her papers, of course, in one of the pockets of her cargo shorts. But she wouldn't present them unless he asked. That would be presumptuous, and she wasn't doing anything wrong, just her job.

Of course it was hard to focus on her innocence when he was being a complete booby. Genie folded her lips together in a very precise line, racked her brain for the right thing to say, and came up with some that passed, she hoped. She'd never been one to get anything but an A though, and this definitely felt like a C-level answer. "Uh, no, no noises necessary. I'm waiting for the hovercraft from the Capitol arrive to take this shipment," Genie spoke in quiet, even tones, and then nodded towards the boxes a few feet to her right. "It's important that they get to the Capitol today." She straightened a little, tried to sound like she knew what she was talking about. She did, truly, but Genie didn't exactly have a backbone. A spine, sure, but she lacked whatever critical thing it was that made it courageous.

whispering like it's a secret, only to condemn the one who hears it
with a heavy heart

Oh no. She had never seen a Peacekeeper keep notes on someone they firmly believed was innocent. Immediately her palms slicked with sweat. Genesis took a deep, steadying breath in. In and out. Everything was good. It was irrational to feel fear because someone was writing in a bloody notebook. This realization helped, if only a little. Enough so that she could look up at him again when he addressed her. "Uhm." Which was about the stupidest thing she could say, since it seemed like she didn't know.

But that was the problem, wasn't it? She didn't know, not really. "I think two. But it could be three." She'd been loathe to pull out the directions earlier, because they were scribbled and didn't look any more professional than her 'uhm,' but now they were all she had. Genie drew the note from her pocket, which had been printed on a over-copied form. She pointed directly at the time. "Can you tell what it says? I couldn't make it out. My aunt has horrible handwriting. You know, clearly." She was really making a mess of this conversation, and knowing it wasn't make things easier.

"It's a shipment of supplies," she hedged. If he was really a Peacekeeper, she could tell him. But then asking for his credentials could send him into a rage. And he is was just pretending and some sort of bandit, telling him what was in the boxes would be a major mistake.

whispering like it's a secret, only to condemn the one who hears it
with a heavy heart

Genie visibly relaxed when he took one look at her shipment directions and agreed with her. Maybe all Peacekeepers weren't total tools. She'd met maybe one or two over the years who didn't make her grind her teeth, but they were by far the exception. She was willing to add this fellow to this list, though, since things seemed to be going smoothly, and quickly! What was it about Peacekeepers that made most of them so long-winded?

But now came the moment of truth. Genesis looked him right in the eye. Did he look like a rebel? She'd heard stories, ghosts of stories, mostly at school. Just whispers. Anything more got you detention or a beating. But supposedly there were people who lived on the edge of Panem, maybe even beyond it. Genie wasn't the type of person to believe in gossip, but the more she thought about it, the more it could be possible. She was rational enough to realize that not everyone would like living in the Districts, especially any of them above Four. Hell, she didn't particularly love it most of the time.

But if he was a rebel, where had he gotten such fine clothes? And he looked reasonably well fed. Better off than she, even. Genie decided to trust him, if only a little. "They're pistols." Her gaze flickered to his hip, searching for his own weapon. "Alder-made." And know she'd really know if he was telling the truth or not. She kept her gaze on his face, and decided that while he looked a little goofy with his elfin ears, he wasn't so very bad to stare at, either.

whispering like it's a secret, only to condemn the one who hears it
with a heavy heart

And there it was. Confirmation that he was a Peacekeeper, even if she hadn't seen his papers. Genie brightened a little, her smile tweaking skyward as his enthusiasm took hold. She was careful to shift slightly aside as he brandished the snowy white Alder; she knew them to have a hair-light trigger. But he seemed knowledgeable. No, that was unfair. Truly he had actually bothered to learn about the guns, about what worked for well him (and Harvards weren't that great in her opinion either).

She watched the flash of his fingers, and the disappearance of the weapon. "You handle it very well." And then, though he had not asked, Genie drew her papers out of her pocket and presented them to him. It would save her a little bit of trouble in the conversation. "I make the model you have now. I mean, I probably didn't make that one - I've only been an apprentice for a few years - but the White Devil is currently my specialty." She grinned, because it made her proud.

And why shouldn't she be? He had just complimented the style of the device, which she now maintained instead of her uncle. This was a good thing, she decided. It never hurt to know another Peacekeeper.

whispering like it's a secret, only to condemn the one who hears it
with a heavy heart

And this was a major perk of the job, although certainly not why she did it. No, Genie worked in the smith because she was good at it, because it gratified her in a way nothing else ever had - or was likely ever to do so. Besides, she had always been a hands-on sort of girl, even from childhood. She loved playing with blocks the best in the beginning of school, so could it really be too surprising that she had followed in her family's footsteps?

Even still, it was always gratifying to be praised for what one was good at. For one's job. He was definitely a little eccentric, but then, who wasn't? Especially in District Three. Genie grinned, the smiled radiating across her features, opening her doe eyes, shading her high cheekbones. She reached out and put her bird-bone hand into his own. "Captain Falcon, how do you do." Ah, etiquette training, how well it served her. "My friends call me Genie." And she lifted her eyes, very much meaning to make the impression that they were friends, or could be.

"Might I impose on you to keep me company until the hovercraft arrives?" She asked, all formality. It couldn't hurt to have a Peacekeeper, a real one, in tow. But then, if no transport materialized by three, she would be wasting his time. It was a gamble no doubt, but one she was willing to take.