thick skin | zori

Blending it was what he was good at. He always made himself the most scarce when there was treachery afoot. It was quite obvious that Justin still had no clue what he was doing when it came to the family business. Anyone would think that he would eventually realize that if he wanted to get out of the mines, that he was going to have to take up some sort of mantel. Since Juliet was gone, there was a hole, but your twin did their best to fill it. After all, they didn’t even think you were ready to take up the mantle in any other capacity except being a wall flower.

That was fine, because he was good at making himself disappear. It was probably his one talent that was useful for the family. They kept him at arms distance when it came to the serious things, but blending in to a crowd in order to perform a drop off? That was something that Justin could do without even thinking about it.

Justin had been out for a good part of the morning doing just that. He had a day off from the mines, which meant that he needed to run a couple things for Elliot at the very least. He never asked what was in the packages, because even he knew that he would be met with a very curt response. It was his families specialty, and while Juliet was probably the nicest out of them, they made sure to at least include him at the bare minimum. After all, they were all up to no good, so might as well make sure they were doing it together.

The day had been cold, but Justin was used to it at this point, moving through the streets and dropping packages at various locations, making sure to keep his eyes peeled for anything suspicious. Honestly, the peacekeepers really didn’t give a shit. Justin had literally handed someone a package right in front of a peacekeeper, and they proceeded to do nothing. Justin did wonder if his family might have had that much reach, but that thought quickly scattered as he had to hide in the alleyway of one of the houses. Discreetness was important in this line of work, and quite frankly, Justin did not want to have to explain himself.

But the day had passed, and now he was sitting in the quad of the district just trying to keep to himself. Lately there had been a lot of weird faces around the district, something about the travel policy being lightened again because some of the middle districts had won the games and the capitol felt the need to take the pressure off. Justin listened through the door just enough to know that many people would arrive daily just to see what Twelve was like. Some days, Justin did try to take to the streets in order to see what might end up in his hands as he passed. He wasn’t a proud pick pocketer, but he would always justify it with trying to distance himself from what the Monaghans stood for.

He was not in the mood today, but he thought about it, the sky looking a certain hue of orange that reminded him of pillow that he did have waiting for him at home. The Monaghans did live a good life, which might have been more of a curse, but it was all about perception, and from the outside, they seemed like they were normal. Justin would not be the one to ruin that image for anyone.

He looked to his left to see a boy that he had never seen before walk through a bar door, which made Justin confused, seeing as he might have seemed a little out of place. Justin knew the place pretty well, and usually outsiders from other districts were thrown out pretty quickly. Something about being disrespectful and full of hate. Justin always was able to get in, because his family and the family that owned it were close enough.

He moved into the bar and found an empty stool at the end of the bar, his eyes trying to focus on the boy before anything else. The bartender gave Justin a light smile before putting his usual in front of him. Justin didn’t have time to say that he wasn’t drinking, but he was trying to blend in, which meant playing the part. That was until he stood up with the drink and let his mind wander for a moment.

He thought about what his brothers would have thought if they knew he wasn’t focusing on his actual job today. They never gave him too much shit, but Justin could be doing more. It didn’t help that they didn’t give him much to do to begin with. Before Justin could catch himself, he felt himself run straight into a wall. Except it wasn’t a wall, but the object of his curiosity. Justin had fallen to the ground and so did the alcohol that he had on him. ”Shit…” he said lowly before looking up at the other boy, realizing that this was bad.

He was going to have to figure something out on the fly, or maybe suffer the consquences of being too curious.

After all, it sure does kill.