:| Two Minds Are Not Right |: {Cato Fan}

One of the reasons why Wyatt liked Axel was because of the strength he possessed. Obviously he had to be strong to work at this specific work site, but there were rarely workers who would start so young. Wyatt was worried about Axel, though, as he knew that a worker needed a certain amount of nourishment in order to keep his body well-maintained. At first, he refused to butt into the other kid’s personal business, but the more he worked with Axel, the more he felt like he had a responsibility towards the kid to make sure he was eating, even if the food wasn’t the most appetizing. He knew Axel was probably sick of hearing him pester about the fact that he wasn’t eating during lunch, but that didn’t stop Wyatt from trying. It was as if Wyatt thought of Axel as part of his own family, hoping it would give the younger boy a slight break.

When Axel played along with Wyatt’s joke, he punched Axel lightly in the arm and shook his head. “Seriously, kid, if you don’t watch yourself, you’re going to have to worry about losing weight.” Using his tongue, he moved the cigarette to the other corner of his mouth before taking it out and leaving it between two of his fingers. He looked to see what Axel had to eat for lunch and noticed that the other boy wasn’t eating. Probably thinking about all the people he can feed with that portion. “C’mon, Axel, you gotta eat something. You’re really starting to worry me now when you won’t even eat lunch.” Putting the cigarette back to his lips, he grabbed the bowl in Axel’s hands and lifted it up to his nose. “Mmm, lunch.” Laughing, he placed it back in Axel’s hands and leaned back against the tree. There really was no way to spice up their meals, but after so many years of working at the site, Wyatt had grown accustomed to the bland taste of the mush.

But he knew it wasn’t even the flavor that was holding Axel back. For some reason, that kid just wouldn’t eat. He was always convinced that other people were suffering, that he shouldn’t be allowed to have a luxury that others couldn’t have. Wyatt didn’t share the same mindset. To him, the world consisted of him and his family; everyone else would have to fend for themselves. After all, where were they when his father would come back drunk? Where were they to stop his father from slapping his mother across the face? Before he had to rely on his poor mother, but now that he was older, he was going to protect them from all the taunts and jeers that followed his family name. But Axel here was always thinking about the other people, always thinking about how there were those who were starving, ill, dying. To show so much concern to people he wasn’t even sure he had met was too insane for Wyatt to comprehend. “Kid, if you don’t eat it, no one else will. You might as well use it so you have more strength for the rest of the day. And don’t give me that ‘I’ll be fine’ crap. I’ve already heard enough.”

“I don’t know, man. At least you would have some fat stores that could last you a few days in case you can’t find food.” Was the bantering going too far? Wyatt didn’t want Axel to have to worry about being in the Games, as if they could starve Axel to death with the tiny stomach he must have had. Even with Axel’s strength, Wyatt knew that the younger boy would have trouble killing, especially if his life was on the line. Then there was the fact that he would have to find a weapon during the chaos where bloodshed was heavy. Wyatt shook his head, refusing to believe that Axel could get reaped. It was one of the things of being a worker at the work site; most of the men had already passed reaping eligibility so it was taken for granted that they would be there the day after the reaping. But Wyatt and Axel were still of reaping age and the chance that one of them would not be sitting next to the other at lunch was a terrible thought.

Would he have the balls to volunteer if he heard his friend’s name being read for a small slip of paper? No, it wasn’t worth thinking about it yet; they still had at least another nine months before the next reaping. Plus, there was no way either of them would be reaped. There were many boys in District 7 with a lot of slips in the glass bowl. It was worth more to think about the boy sitting next to him who wouldn’t eat. After he had tried to persuade Axel to eat, he heard a sigh from Axel and he knew what the kid was thinking.

The cigarette still hanging out of his mouth, Wyatt raised one eyebrow as Axel tried to convince him that he would be okay. The kid’s altruism was getting to the point that Wyatt wanted to take the spoon and shove the rest of the meal into Axel’s mouth. Really, it was getting to be too much. He watched expectantly as Axel held the spoon and brought the food to his mouth, and he let out a loud sigh as the kid put the spoon back down with the food still on it. “What are you planning, Axel? To give it to some poor man who is out on the streets?” Wyatt knew that was exactly what Axel would do, if not to a poor woman or kid. “Axel, you might think you’re okay, but your body isn’t. Trust me, I know what it’s like to think that I could handle not eating if it meant giving the food to someone else.” Well, he would only do that for family, but Axel didn’t have to know that.

“Kid, I’m going to sit here and watch you until you finish at least half of the food in that container.” He laughed a little bit, trying to lighten the mood. “See? I can be nice. I’m only forcing you to eat half.”

Wyatt started laughing along until he saw how serious Axel’s face was and heard the disgust in his voice. As fun as it was joking about it, he was so certain that Axel was considering volunteering that Wyatt started frowning. He knew the kid wouldn’t survive, but he also knew that Axel was thinking about “the poor kid” who would be reaped for the next Games. Taking out the cigarette and pointing it at Axel, he said, “Be careful, kid. Don’t make me tackle you if you say you’re going to volunteer. I would just fight you for the position.” Would he, though? Wyatt didn’t want to be in the Hunger Games any more than most of the kids, but if it meant that Axel would have a chance to live, he would take it.

He went back to chuckling when Axel said that he had read his mind. It wasn’t so much of reading his mind, but rather that he knew what the kid would be thinking about; it was the only thing Axel seemed to be thinking about. Any situation, he would turn it into a “but what about others” question that Wyatt would have to pull him down from. Wyatt watched Axel as he paused and then ate the food. A wave of relief washed through Wyatt as Axel finished his lunch, more than Wyatt had asked for. He couldn’t stop Axel from not eating before or after work, but as long as he was at the work site, Wyatt was going to make sure the kid made good use of the food.

His eyebrows raised as bemusement showed in his face in response to Axel’s saying. “Kid, we still have nine months to worry about odds.” He watched as Axel threw the bowl on the ground, the spoon making a weird clank sound. “You don’t have to have that face when eating. Think about the poor person who made that delicious food for you.” Shaking his head with a smile on his face, he looked down at the ground before looking straight ahead. Everyone else seemed to be done with their meal, but the lunch break would last for another several minutes. “I don’t want you worrying about the Games right now, Axel. Not yet. Just focus on providing for your family.”

Wyatt sighed when Axel responded and shook his head with a bemused grin. There was just no stopping this kid; it looked like Wyatt would really have to run up and tackle the dumb boy before he stepped up to the platform at the reaping. “Sometimes, you gotta let it happen, Axel. Can’t wait for this upcoming fight though.” Even if Wyatt didn’t want to hit Axel, he knew there was no other way to get Axel to stand down. It took him so much effort already to get the younger boy to finish his meal. It was not a false statement that once that boy had made his mind about something, he stuck to it.

For example, he wouldn’t let go of the fact that he had just eaten when there were “other people” who “were starving while he was able to eat”. Wyatt couldn’t resist rolling his eyes at the fact that Axel believed that the cook who made his lunch didn’t have any for himself. “You give a lot of benefit to the cook, man, if you think he didn’t eat any of the food.” In fact, Wyatt was certain that the cook slipped more than his fair share of the food every time he made something—humans were just inherently selfish in that way. Except for Axel. The damn kid just had to be the exception to everything Wyatt knew about the humankind. “It’s not District 12—we’re not living in a complete hellhole where no one is able to eat.”

“Kid, stop being stupid. The only way you can get more slips is by getting more tesserae and what are you going to do with all that grain and oil? Cook a feast for the district?” Wyatt chuckled darkly as he tried to imagine everyone eating richly thanks to how many tesserae Axel had. His face grew solemn as he realized that Axel might take his joking as advice. “Hey! Don’t actually do it, okay? No one’s going to take any of your food, y’know.” A grimace formed as he watched Axel, hoping that the younger boy’s face wouldn’t lift as though Wyatt had given him an idea. The last thing Wyatt wanted was for the boy to do something so self-sacrificing and end up dying in the arena. “Also, what’s the point if you’re too hungry to survive the Games? Our district needs someone who can win, not die because he was so hungry that he passes out in the bloodbath.”

A little surprised by how brusque Axel was getting, Wyatt chuckled as the other boy insisted that he would be in the Games the following year. Holding his hands up in a sign of defeat, Wyatt said, “Whoa, no need to play the guilt card on me. It’s not my fault we can’t all be altruistic like you.” Seeing how Axel was starting to seethe, Wyatt knew he would have to tone it down before Axel started beating him up. “Alright, alright, kid. Just calm down, okay. So you’re going to find some way to get into the Games. Got the message, Axel. Now, will you stop glaring at me like you want to kill me?”

He could only shake his head when Axel voiced his opinion about District 12. Of course the boy would think that; all that was on his mind was about other people suffering. He would have had a field day if he was in District 12. “The Capitol’s not going to let you help another district out. You’d be killed before they let you become a Victor.” There was no smile as Wyatt spoke those words. There was no joking about what the Capitol could do, especially with words like that. “And don’t blame your parents for having you in this district—as much as I like to believe that they were trying to give you a better future than those in the lower districts, I’m pretty sure they didn’t make the choice.” Wyatt looked at Axel directly in the eyes before continuing. “And neither will you.”

The minute he saw that his idea was received a lot better than Wyatt wanted, he placed his head in his hands. Why had he even said those words? Axel didn’t need more encouraging as it was. Letting out a sigh, he placed a hand on Axel’s shoulder and shook his head. “I’m a dumbass.” Closing his eyes, he gave a few pats to Axel’s shoulder before putting his hand on the tree he was sitting against. “Hey, don’t be mad at me for speaking the truth. And you think starvation is more rampant in this district than it really is. C’mon, kid, just let it go for now and don’t make a feast—do you even know how to cook?” He couldn’t help himself when he threw in that quip jokingly. He actually wasn’t sure if Axel could cook or handle cooking a feast.

If they didn’t stop this conversation soon, Wyatt felt like he was raised eyebrow would be stuck there permanently as he listened to Axel rant. Boy, this kid is on fire right now. He listened to all of Axel’s words, but sometimes he couldn’t help interjecting. “Axel, it’s not about you caring for others which I’m sure there are others who do just that; it’s about how much of yourself that you’re sacrificing. You’re giving up food, energy, and possibly even your life. We just aren’t wired to do that naturally.” Shaking his head, Wyatt placed his head in his hands again. This was going to give him a headache. “Nevermind, just ignore that. Nothing’s going to change your mind anyway.”

The problem was Axel wouldn’t even listen. Oh sure, he was listening to what Wyatt was saying, but the smart ass always had a retort. No matter what Wyatt tried to say to bring down his resolve, it only became more fortified as Wyatt tried to talk some sense into the boy who he considered a good friend of his. He definitely didn’t want to see his friend in the Games, fighting for his life with the small frame he had, but more importantly, he wanted Axel to see how necessary it was to at least take care of his self. The other boy wasn’t having it though, as he started talking about being dead and how all the Victors had changed after the Games. “I just don’t understand why you are so convinced on being in the Games. You save the other boys one year, and you know you won’t even survive. Your life for one year? I know I’m no numbers genius, but that doesn’t add up.”

“I think you only see the starving people,” Wyatt muttered under his breath. While Wyatt knew that starvation was a part of the District 7 life, he also knew that there were those who were eating just fine at night. “First off, I have seen people who get three meals a day. Billy there, he even gets to eat snacks,” Wyatt pointed out one of their coworkers to Axel. “Also, and this is not a challenge, you wouldn’t be able to feed the entire district.” He knew the numbers would not deter Axel—he threw in the disclaimer for a reason—but it was worth kicking some reality into the kid’s head. “Plus, once they see the mess you made in the pot, they probably wouldn’t come within a foot of whatever you cook up.” Wyatt tried to smile at Axel, but the conversation was starting to weigh him down and the smile came out weak.