peace treaty // the night brigade.

Tune's taken to eating alone, but the clumps of kids forming around her are making her nervous.

God she wishes she had her crew with her. They'd take their place at a table and proudly declare it theirs, strength in numbers. But out here in exile, Tune felt their absence growing with each day that passed. Kids whispering, shaking hands, making deals. She stands for a moment in place as she surveys her options - maybe she'd talk to Tex, find comfort in the familiar. Or Cain, though after their spar she thought best to keep her distance to let the adrenaline cool off.

That left empty tables and a whole lot of unwelcoming looks. In the distance sat that girl from Nine, the one everyone called a celebrity - and Tune had noticed her quick to chat up a variety of tributes since they'd arrived. Probably surveying her options, using her newfound fame - whatever it was, Tune hadn't a clue how she'd obtained it nor did she care much for it - to her advantage.

But it was Carly or nought, and the bumbling boy from Eleven had just entered the dining hall to her right. With a flush and a quickening pace, she tears her sideways glance away from his figure and marches up to Nine with her tray in hand.

"This seat taken?" Tune asks, not bothering to wait for an answer. Her tray hits the table top with a clatter, chair feet scraping across the floor as she pulls herself in and settles across from Carly.

A fork, twisting pasta - "So what's the deal with you anyway?" talking with her mouth full in-between chews. Table manners hadn't exactly been on the curriculum in Twelve. "You a Victor's secret lovechild or what?"

[ coding by griffin ]