☾ ☼ ☽ | torian & peter (vt)

In Peter's eyes, if it couldn't be Danny standing in front of him at the Victory Tour today, it might as well have been Torian Vice. He watched their friendship grow in the arena. He held a bitter look in his eye whenever his sibling's body would shift to keep the boy from Seven out of harm's way. Why? Why did Danny strip themselves of every piece of armor they had in order to protect this kid, only a few years older than Peter and his siblings?

Peter stood directly in front of his grandmother on the platform as Torian made his speech. He didn't listen. Instead, he rolled the twine of a crescent-shaped pendant around his thumb all the way up to his palm. He felt the moon pulse within his grip, a steady heartbeat he'd barely let go of since it came back with his sibling's remains. He swiped it without a second thought after his family finished paying their respects. Over the month since Ulysses's death, he needed it more than ever.

Today, though, the pendant glowed a brighter arctic blue than it ever had since reaching District Eleven. Peter had a feeling that it was because the pendant's other half was only fifty feet away from it.

When the speech concluded, Peter and his family were permitted to speak to Torian, if they wished. Grandma and Grandpa advised his brother and sisters against it. So much hurt can come from a conversation, they said. His siblings were too young to disobey them, but Peter knew better. He was reaping age now, age twelve. If he was old enough to fight as his sibling did, then surely he could have the courage to talk to someone who might need an ear.

A pair of Peacekeepers let him through the Justice Building doors and showed him to the room where Torian was in between events. Peter knocked twice before opening the door up partway. "Torian? Hi. I'm Ulysses's brother. Can I come in and talk to you?" Peter's first impression of Torian was that he was relatively shy, just like him. But hopefully, they'd be able to talk because he really needed it.