The Elites . (1/2) Feast. Ratmas day 1

♕ Freya

I was regretting showing up after what happened at the weapons display. I thought it would be the perfect place to show off, after all I literally specialise in ranged weapons in training students. And yet, I missed, twice. I don't miss. I could understand not getting a headshot every time, but actually missing? I swear I did better in the fight with Victor - hand-to-hand combat - than I did there. One thing was certain, I needed a god damn drink. After all, that was why I bothered showing up.

When I heard some of my coworkers discussing the event I honestly laughed. Until I was told he was running for mayor. Victor is like a child, annoying and harmless. He can throw his temper tantrums but at the end of the day he'll take a nap and not cause any real damage. Unless you give the toddler control of the entire district. That's what him becoming mayor would be.

I had spent a few weeks thinking about it, I've never had real interest in politics. But I knew the current career system wasn't working. I believed in careers, but I also believed the system needed an overhauling. We could make training less expensive and more accessible, add more of an educational value to training as well. Instead of just teaching teenagers to stab each other, we could teach them coping mechanisms to use within the arena to keep their cool. We could teach them more about survival, traps, strategy, even picking alliances. Things that had some sort of practical value.

If Strauss had his way, we'd turn Two into a factory. We'd take kids and replace them with robots, drones with one goal of victory - no personality or unique identity. So, I drank and I socialised. I spoke to the attendees about throwing my hat in the ring for mayor, about improving the district and ensuring more victors for us. I didn't bother to hide my aspirations from Strauss. If he got pissed off and made a scene, it would just make him look bad. As the drinks flowed, so did my lips. Luckily I didn't say anything I regretted yet.

[ table by kiah ]

Happy, free, confused, and lonely
at the same time

Okay, so admittedly, I wasn't great at making decisions. It's not that I made poor ones out of disregard or irresponsibility. It's that I made them rash. I never had a habit of giving myself enough time to even recognize that there could be consequences, much less decide if they were worth it.

So when dad said we had to go to this gauche-ass event, my trouble was inevitable. When he introduced all of us to another esteemed family, I decided not to mention how Max was volunteering soon and I was sure he'd bring the crown home to 12. And when dad wasn't looking I snuck a glass or two or three of champagne off of a table. Had I ever been drunk before? No. But I was certain in my capabilities to handle my alcohol. After all, if Max could do it, so could I.

I could not.

I was forcing myself quiet the whole night when Cayd whispers to me something about being bored and ditching, honestly I didn't catch all of it, I immediately took his hand and said "Follow me."

Honestly, he should've known better. He was younger but significantly more level headed than I. I didn't know where I was taking him but he followed me unquestionably. Will the boy ever learn his lesson? I ended up letting a chocolate fountain catch the corner of my eye and quite frankly, forgot about Cayden. I dropped his hand and penguin-waddled over to it. Cayden followed, but not before I could dip my hand in and sip runny milk chocolate from my hand like a tea cup. I had never had chocolate before, dad didn't allow it. But it lived up to it's reputation so well I had to go for another scoop. And another.

Perhaps Cayden was telling me to 'stop' or 'it's all over your shirt' or something like that. But I only heard a 'I want to try some.' So I took up a handful and forced it, beautifully into his face.