a taste of home [andal & flynn]

The awkwardness is already piercing through the air. With Andal being the fifth victor that I have welcomed to Six, maybe I should have perfected the script by now. Not that I ever follow the ones that the mayor, the high council rep or the Capitol officials I see once a year hand over to me. It is a perk of using an establishment that is personal to me. The college tour will be an informal one, here is where I determine a friend or foe. And the latter has yet to be encountered.

I bang on the glass divider; it vibrates across the food counter as I try to draw the attention of Dale’s family. ”The usual for me and he wants the vegetarian one…” I can see the disappointment in the chef’s eyes as he only throws one beef patty onto the grill. Damn I need to save this already. ”Don’t worry about the glass – it is just plague precaution, with Six being the epicenter and all that…”

Andal goes on to try and drive the conversation, but I feel like I should just hit my foot on the accelerator, we will either get somewhere or end up in a wreckage and well I am ready to take that chance. ”I mean it is nice to finally drop the whole baby victor thing. I think you, Talon and I are all the same age!” A victor crop from the same generation. The final year it will happen for me. The big one nine approaching next year, the official flag of adulthood in Panem. Yeah, I do not know whether to look forwards to it or hide from it. It is not like the control I have over my life will change…

I rest my elbow on the counter as the beef patty and whatever fake vegetable thing that Andal has ordered sizzle on the different grills. It is hard not to stare at the obvious elephant at the food counter. I was fortunate to leave the arena with manageable scars, even able to refuse a newly grown ear. Andal looks, well damn he looks so different to that tribute I first saw in the training center at the beginning of the games…Yeah, I am not going to ask about that. Or maybe I will. Later, though.

”I use this place as just a moment of peace, I know how overwhelming the tour can be especially at the half way mark. So, if you want to just relax for a moment, let off some steam. There are no cameras in here…” The glass windows of the diner are perfectly obscured, another upgrade the family have taken advantage of since my first date with a victor here. ”Though my friend’s dad may want to take a picture with you at the end.” I point up to the wall besides the food counter grinning, a timeline of the victors that have been welcomed here before.

"So did you pick your face, or...?"

Oh fuck!

The door is right there.

"Sorry, it is just that I am a medical academic and I am curious...We can start again if you want."

Finally, the burgers are served up and a fresh jug of water divides the two plates between Andal and I. It is always a good awkwardness breaker, the moment the food arrives. The only thing talking in this moment is my stomach and my mouth is pre-occupied to be thinking about stringing together sentences. It has never been a struggle for me, the whole conversation thing. There are always words to be spoken, even if it is forced chatter about the weather or very abrupt prying questions based on another’s appearance.

My bedside manner is something I must work on though, at least the fresh victors are great dummy patients to practice on.

I stop taking obnoxiously large crunchy bites from my burger as Andal explains it all. No decision about his own reflection. No choice on the face that the rest of the world will learn to be his. It seems the Capitol has a lot of strings attached to the newest victor. What a shame. Maybe I can help him find a pair of scissors for some of the strings. It is in the unwritten guidelines of being a victor, helping each other. Especially against them.

”You can learn to live outside of their control.” I say as I drop the half-eaten cheeseburger back onto the plate. ”But they will always have a tight grip on your ankles. Though it may not be too hard to claim back what was stolen… It is easy to take advantage of them like they do us.”

In the early days, they shunned me for signing my name against the enrollment papers of the college. Then they let it go. But this past year the Capitol has used me again, like an asset that they can claim at any time. Just a face for their Rose Plague propaganda. I didn’t even have time to mourn Izzy as they had me stand in front of the cameras during the daily briefings. But there have been some advantages to it for me. The blame on District Six for the spread of the plague seems to have resided and the medicines stock in the hospitals is back to manageable levels. A bargain I pleaded for before accepting the Capitol’s work. A District’s reputation is nothing compared to Andal’s literal face being stolen but when there is a will, there is a way…

”If you ever need help with anything Andal, I am always here. The other victors are too. We are a good asset, more than just friends and faces you see once a year.”

I wipe my face with a napkin as Andal asks for more food, the burger does look a little lonely on the plate. ”Yeah they do those but not together??” I beckon to Dale’s dad, adding a new order to the tab from Andal’s request. ”Also you can curse as much as you want around me and especially in here. No need to apologies, they are in the dictionary for a reason!”