under the sword of damocles 🗡 olivine & eulalie [jb]
Sept 24, 2024 14:02:25 GMT -5
Post by eulalie blake 1a 🍒 tris on Sept 24, 2024 14:02:25 GMT -5
What occupies a girl's mind when she's not thinking of how to win the Hunger Games?
Let the record show: Eulalie is made of more than her ambition and capacity to cause harm. But in the first hour that follows the Reaping, where she volunteered as tribute and made her claim for glory, all the adrenaline seems to have seeped out of her body. She's not sure what to do with the little energy that remains, mind half-torn between her grand expectations and the reality that she'll have to make it through a week of social pageantry before the gong even sounds.
She knows how to keep a few close friends; how to be cordial and engaging like a daughter of high society should be. But where Eulalie has put all of her effort into martial training, her twin brother has always been the face of the duo. Any bad situation they find themselves in, Olivine could easily make a quick escape with the use of his honeyed words. Now, being congratulated and fussed over by strangers on her walk to the Justice Building, she wishes she could tag him in long enough to handle this part on her behalf.
What is she meant to say to them? 'Yes, my plan is to break Cordelia's record. I wore blue today because of this random reason. My weapon of choice is an axe. Hearing you're rooting for me makes all the difference.' It all feels forced, and strange. She specializes in the doing, not the telling. Maybe that's why she feels so off. If this is the start of her lifelong dream coming true, then why is she struggling to engage?
Don't mistake her: she knows that today was the right time to make her move. And if her parents are shocked by her choice, they don't share as much when they are lead into the sun dappled room where she's waiting. Her mother just smiles flatly and stands in the corner, allowing Dad to speak and wrap Eulalie in a tight hug. She's always felt closer to her father, more understood and appreciated. A part of her recognizes that his pride is based solely on the fact that she has put herself in a position to represent their family in the Games, but another part of her is willing to accept this at face value.
It doesn't need to be more than what it is. He holds her by the shoulders, tells her to keep her head on straight and to never lose sight of her goals. She promises him that she'll perform to the fullest of her abilities. Her mother just stays quiet, taking turns looking at Dad and then back to the floor. There's a tingle in the back of Eulalie's brain that makes her think, 'maybe this is it. This is where it ends. In a week's time I could die with the knowledge that my mother and I never cared about the other.'
When the door closes behind them with a thud, she doesn't flinch, and she does not allow herself to feel any regret. She sinks back into the plush chair, staring at the ceiling and making a mental note of every groove, waiting for the one person she actually wants to talk to right now. Once she hears the knob turning, she doesn't rush to sit up straight, she just keeps looking up into space. "Honestly, I thought you'd be the first one here. I saw you waiting outside before I even arrived."
Pulling herself forward, tossing her blonde hair over her shoulder, Eulalie locks her gaze on Olivine and carefully watches his features. "I haven't upset you, have I?" He's the only person she feels guilty for not telling, but what is there that she could possibly say? The deed is done, she has already begun the war campaign.
The static in the room seems to hum as it waits for his response.
