different kind of beautiful | gunner & lucky

l u c k y
nachtnebel

Yesterday, Lucky slid invitations underneath all of the tributes' doorsteps.

Today, he had to ensure the party went off without a hitch.

Early in the afternoon, he stalked one of the janitors as he went in and out of their closet to grab more cleaning supplies. The awful ping of metal keys rolling around and crashing against one another gave him the most feasible idea to secure the party's venue. Lucky advertised for the tributes to meet at the swimming pool after hours, when all of the adults and trainers had closed up shop and gone to bed. All good and easy, except for when he tried to open the door late last night. They locked it.

Just a little roadblock, nothing a few smart minds couldn't overcome. He was patient this morning, skipping the swordfighting lesson he signed up for today in order to observe. The past few days, the swimming area hadn't opened until late in the afternoon. He asked one of the instructors yesterday, and she told Lucky that the custodial staff had to chlorinate the water and make sure it was clean for the new day.

The custodial worker was older. Definitely not an avox given how much he grumbled and spoke to himself as he fumbled through his keys. He had to have at least twenty squished together on a ring larger than little Selkie's head. Finally, though, the old man got to the right key and twisted it through the hole. Lucky rushed over to the old man's aid. "Here! Allow me." He grabbed the door and held it open for the man and his equipment. "Saw you struggling to get through last night. Figured I'd offer my help." A lie, but judging from the old man's glossy eyes, it wouldn't be much of a lie to sell. As the man pulled his cart, Lucky looked at the key stuck in the swimming area's door. Blue plastic end, not rusted. The man swiped the key ring away and looped it back around his belt. He thanked him for his assistance. Lucky patted the man's cotton shirt, "Take care, now."

Lucky needed that key. What option was there other than to steal it? He stole that instructor's notepad and some of the paint and pencils from the camouflage station, but the keys physically attached to the janitor? It might be a harder stealth mission for a boy of Lucky's acknowledged presence.

He held out hope, sitting on one of the benches outside the swimming pool. After nearly a week in the training center, Lucky had a good sense of who would be up for the task and who wouldn't. He divided the tributes into three groups: the teacher's pets, the normies, and the risk-takers. In this scenario, he'd only approach the latter of the three. The teacher's pets would rat him out (and probably would've ruined the party had he not threatened them in the invitation,) and the normies probably don't have the guts. Lucky didn't want to get any of the careers in more trouble, which picked his girls out of the running. The risk-takers, although somewhat unknown, piqued his interest as quickly as gold. He was still looking for allies to add to his list, and this might be the perfect test of their trustworthiness.

His left thumb was besting his right in a best-of-five thumb war while he waited for a potential deviant. The left was winning already, but Lucky kept the fights as close and as long as possible.

"Nine! Hey N- Gun! Gunner." It took a moment to remember the boy's name. Lucky sprung up, declaring his left hand the winner in a clean sweep. "Mind if I grab you for a favor real quick?"

He pulled him in close. Lucky gently wrapped his palm around the back of Gunner's neck. "I don't trust the rest of those losers to help me, but I do trust you. Think you could help a brother out?"

Please, please, please. Lucky's eye begged as he turned to nod in the direction of the swimming area.