[Never] Have [I] Ever //Victors

Lethe Turner

Every inch of Lethe ached.

She couldn’t tell if it was simply her lack of sleep or her insatiable longing to be with her brother. The Avox boy who attended her was constantly rubbing her neck, sore from sitting up so long all day, the television still on, watching his chest rise and fall. Every breath that took she relished, praying it would continue. She knew that anything that happened during the day would be recapped in the evening if interesting, but Lethe wanted to be there for every second.

That evening as she shuffled tiredly to her nightstand to retrieve her brush, the television blaring loudly in the background, Lethe wondered if this was what her mother did when was Reaped--refuse to sleep, eat little, ache, but never complain. What was worse? This or being in the actual Games? She tugged at a stubborn tangle in her hair as she mused. The Games had been a mind-numbing experience and there, too, Lethe hardly slept and was always watching, waiting for the final blow of death with bated breath which was not much different than her life now. However, the similarities ended there as Lethe enjoyed this sensation that left her toes cold and her eyelids throbbing from the comfort of a feather bed, as opposed to the hard ground, and at least here Lethe had the security of knowing that she’d survive the whole ordeal.

Whether survival was a good or bad thing was yet to be determined.

Behind her came the sound of a cannon and Lethe swung around, eyes wide. She covered the empty socket where her glass eye normally was (now being delicately washed by an Avox) and squinted at the television. Her heart was racing. Did one of those signal the cessation of her brother’s heart? She ran forward, but saw to her relief that her brother still lived, still fought. Another tribute met their demise. Lethe collapsed into a chair behind her.

He’d only entered the Games that morning and still she felt as though she’d lived a thousand years, and he, she knew from experience, millions. She’d already seen him escape the Bloodbath unscathed which was more than she could say for herself and thus far his ally seemed trustworthy enough. Reflected back in Erebus’s ally, Nocturne, Lethe saw Anya’s smile and Saskia’s blank, yet warm eyes and then, the stunningly sharp steel of Razor’s raised sword. She saw all the possibilities laid out perfectly: an ally who stayed for far too short of a time, another whom he could come to love, but would require help and another one he could never trust. She watched warily.

The Avox who had been cleaning her glass eye helped her put it back and then gently took the brush from her hand to brush the tangles out into a fineness. “Thank you,” Lethe whispered and, with great difficulty, dragged her eyes away from the television, and picked Camalia up off her bed. Tonight she’d be dining with the Victors, an affair that usually resulted in a very drunk Arbor and at least one bout of crying and tonight she suspected the latter would be her. She smoothed her skirt, took one last glance at the television (nothing involved Erebus was going on) and strode off, downstairs to the dining room.

Most of the Victors were already assembled when Lethe walked in, Camalia perched on her shoulder, and she could feel a few eyes as she took a seat next to Klaus. Across one wall of the room was a giant television playing the Games, complete with commentary by the commentators, spoken in such cheerful voices it made Lethe lose her appetite. She pushed her plate away and sat in silence as few others spoke in quiet tones around her and the commentary went on and on about whose bone had shattered upon impact and how much blood spilled the ground and wasn’t it just brilliant how she executed that kill, that one is Victor-material, don’t you think, and someone was tapping their nails on the table, tap, tap, tap, like the fall of the rain around Lethe as she stood amongst the bones of fallen giants, as she squelched her glass eye back into the empty socket, an empty void that would never be filled, as they chuckled and laughed and said, who are they onto next, who will they kill next, who do you think will win, who, who, who--

“Enough!”

Lethe stood so suddenly she slammed her knees painfully in the table. Eyes watering, she staggered to the giant television and promptly turned it off, cutting off only one of their links to the Games. Now all eyes were on her and Lethe saw out of the corner of her good eye a few attending Avoxes edge away, fearfully. Lethe was sure she was breaking some kind of rule; surely the Capitol wanted the Victors watching during meals, but she suddenly didn’t care. She swallowed hard.

“Can’t we forget that for a little bit?” She took a deep breath and gesturing hysterically about the room with outstretched arms. “Why don’t we play a game? A game would be fun...I know!” Striding meaningfully over to Peri, she forced a smile. “He taught me this one. It’s called Never Have I Ever, right? It’s easy,” she said matter-of-factly. “We start out with ten fingers and each say something that we’ve never done and if you’ve done it, you put a finger down. First one to zero loses. I’ll start.” She bit her tongue with uncertainty before deciding on a safe, “Never have I ever been to a bar!”

Fingers: 10

ooc: there is no posting order just have fun