being so normal | korinna/ajanie

ajanie supreme.

He's a hard guy to miss, one blue eye and all. That's half of why he doesn't want to do this shit anymore, he always feels so high risk. Biggie tells him over and over that nothing's gonna happen to him, but he doesn't believe that anymore. You're being paranoid, you're being scary -- man, shut up. Ajanie's sick of working this, but there isn't much of a choice now. He's in too deep, stuck under Biggie's big thumb; he ghosted him for a good week until Bigs started showing up at his job. 

That was fine, until Biggie showed up at his house next. 

He wasn't alone, and neither was Ajanie. Biggie had some guys with him and Supreme, his siblings. Not who you want around, especially when you're being threatened underhandedly by a guy with no spine. There was a line there that Biggie crossed, he tried to say Ajanie's mom invited him over but what about the other three? What's all that then? Ever since, he's receded inside himself, biting his tongue and doing what the big guy says. He feels weak, like a bad dog left outside in the rain, but he works regardless. 

Because he has to. And Biggie's right, Ajanie'll never make enough money without making deliveries to ever make it out of District 9. Two's his home, no matter what the Capitol does to it, and he knows he'll get back there eventually. Let the dog in the house, stop fighting for survival. 

He'll get there, eventually. 

"Ajanie, right?" 

"What's up," he says with a nod. It catches him off guard, hearing her call him by name. Biggie just gave him the time and place and the appearance, that's all he ever really does. Ajanie doesn't like exchanging names, he doesn't like it when people try to know him. It makes it easier on the nerves when the other person forgets about him entirely, brushes him off, dismisses him. They meet in an alleyway on the east side; she was smart enough to pick somewhere the peacekeepers weren't, he'll give her that.

He looks her over once. "You look green," spoken more with caution than malice. Matter-of-factly. It's hard not to notice, you can always tell who's been in the game. Ajanie stuffs his hands in his jacket, "what happened to the old man, you replacing him?"

ajanie supreme.

Ajanie flinches at the crash emitting out from main street, an uncontrollable wince. These kinds of meet ups are always so tense, especially when they decide to throw a new body at him. He couldn't help but wonder how long this girl would last, if she would last at all past this one interaction. You could say she wasn't the type, that she was too scared or too fresh, but he'd been wrong in the past before. There's no way to know but to see, and that's an aspect he loathed - you never know who the snitch will be. 

"There's a codeword," she says, "or something."

He scratches the back of his head as he tries to recall what it was this time. It feels like they change it up just to mess with him; in fact, it seems like they're always messing with him. Why'd they need a stupid codeword anyways? At least they're running off something other than blind faith, "black licorice, right?" Shit, he didn't even feel confident in that one. Biggie had thrown so much information at him that all he remembered was the time and place. "And nah, I wasn't followed, don't worry," or worry, it's not his problem. 

Either way, Ajanie was feeling antsy with uncertainty, something sinking in his gut, a bad feeling, "I'll be right back." 

Walking away was easy, for a second he didn't intend to come back at all. Something about this felt off, wrong - he hadn't been set up yet, but he knew Biggie was getting pissed with him flaking so much. He only walks to the end of the alley, head trained on the ground until a familiar flashing light caught his attention rounding the corner. "Aw, shiit," the fuzz - peacekeepers - he lingers for thirty seconds just to figure out why. Something to do with the large crash, he sees a shattered window across the street and wonders if it had always been that way. 

District 9 has a rat problem, the last year has seen white suits raid the street at the first sign of a paycheck. He tries not to panic as he goes back to his new dealer, but his eyes are bugging out of his head despite trying to keep it in. "Was the code right? I gotta head out," and fast, he doesn't bother warning her of what's around the corner. Once he's got Biggie's files, he's getting the hell out of here anyways, whether she makes it or not isn't his problem.