A Celestial Meeting [Jupiter/Artemis]

A Celestial Meeting [Jupiter/Artemis] Jun 21, 2024 21:42:37 GMT -5

Post by pogue on Jun 21, 2024 21:42:37 GMT -5

J U P I T E R

One of Tallu's first warnings to him was to not get caught up in the politics of Career versus district, no matter how much the world told them too. Said in a hush, quiet murmur and helpful advice, as if he hadn't been able to see the underdog go rabid so many times before. There was a reason why Capitol favor was beginning to sway away from places like One and more towards the rugged lethality of something like Seven, once considered brutes finally moving up into spectacles. there's the unspoken aspect of it: Two was first- what's next?

It's why he's done his best to keep distance, measuring the spaces between himself and other Careers and using it to slingshot his way around the training center, too wary of what it meant to be a Career- too exposed as to what it meant to rely on it.

Interactions between Careers exist in a different sort of void- empty and lethal and bloody fangs hidden behind a smile. The only thing more powerful than knowledge was power, it's why they all ended up with their names pulled from the bowl and their hearts placed on display.

Transactional.
It's his first thought when Artemis approaches him.

He's watched her play the same cards he's thrown out on the table the past few days, chips stacked high and all odds on red and crimson when it was all said and done. They avoided each other long enough, two self-proclaimed hunters in the pack, teenagers with egos far past what severed heartstrings could handle.

It's amazing how far an ego can stretch. Even after Two had gone nuclear he still senses an air of pride whenever he's around them, something like a stench of superiority. But maybe that's just the sewage.

"Hey, Jupiter right?"
She knows his name- he knows hers.
"I'm Artemis, it's nice to meet you."
There's something written between the lines there- for now.

She's smart, to acknowledge the hole that Two has dug themselves into already, proclaiming their Academies are faltering just like their tributes. And yet, he thinks to himself, she's not tuned in enough to massacre the confidence that still seeps into her voice when she speaks to him. One and Two still share the former glory of what once was, after all.

That, or he's just like her- shattered mirror, different form.

"Been meaning to ask you what it's like there now." He remarks, pulling a throwing knife from the table and flitting it in between his fingertips. Treading carefully, more for his own sake than hers. Real Career- It's a compliment laced in venom, that much he knows. If she only could see what the lower ends of Career training were like back in One, survival and blood and sweat and tears, guts spilled to glory and everything in between.

"Can't say it seems smart to help my competitor." He finally adds, forces a grin onto his face no matter how painful. "But, in the effort of camaraderie-" He relaxes, meets her gaze.

"What do you want to know?"
The steel of the knife reflects the real question he's asking.
What's in it for me?