Talk Like a Winner // Galax

As he stood watching his breath turn into a white cloud with each exhale, Galax found himself immeasurably bored with the conversations surrounding him. Sure, he was in a circle of "friends", but he knew well enough that none of them were genuine; quite frankly neither was he. All of their time was spent talking about unrelated bull that was never worth a damn thing. Talking was just a way to fill a void in their pathetic lives, the void usually taken up by personality; something the career and his friends simply did not possess.

"Did you see the way I took that kid out?" "Who cares? My spear throwing was sick!" "Please, you could barely get it to touch the dummy." "My knife work was really sweet." "No one cares, you're a girl.." "Hey!" Stepping in between the entire lot Galax sneered, "Can you all just shut up? Seriously, you're all pathetic excuses for careers." It's not like it wasn't true, Galax knew he was a prodigy, the rest of them were wasting their time. An eerie silence descended on the entire group and no one spoke, in fear that they might anger Galax again. Realizing he should break the silence before someone else did the brown eyed boy put on his devilish charm and spoke, "Who wants to get me some candy?" Immediately all hands shot up into the air and Galax picked on the youngest in the group to get him his sweets. If there was one thing the teenager could pride himself in, it was control.

Looking about the town square with the others who remained, Galax pulled his blue coat closer to his body. The sun was beginning to set, bringing forth the nights merciless chill. He absolutely hated the cold, but didn't mind as much as most did. Thankfully he had a naturally high body temperature which kept him comfortable enough. Once the others arrived with his candy, he opted on taking a lollipop and placed the rock solid sweet in his mouth. Never spending much time in the town square, it was nice to finally enjoy some of the wares the shops had in store. Training was his life, so he normally didn't eat things that could harm his body. What's a lollipop though? As everyone picked their own sweets to ingest, the blond haired boy decided it was time to go and headed to leave with two other friends, ones that lived near the mines like he did.

Without notice he was brought to a halt. Galax, right? It took him a second to look the girl over before he knew who he was staring at. Oh great, he thought passively. "Yes, I'm Galax" he spoke with a smile, no need to be unfriendly. "And you must be Duchess Grant." It came off sarcastic because Galax was in fact being sarcastic. Every career knew who Duchess Grant was. If her utter beauty wasn't enough, then her reputation was. Staring at her like a roadblock on his way home, he listened as she asked him to accompany her home. She must be joking. Turning quickly to look at the reactions of his friends he wasn't so surprised. Both of their jaws were nearly touching the ground and their eyes were four times too big. Of course it was only typical that a male gawk in her presence, but Galax wasn't too easy to win over.

"I am very surprised," he spoke with a condescending tone, "that a career like yourself would need an escort home." Taking a moment to let the words settle he continued "But seeing as I could really care less about getting home on time, sure. I'll accompany you home." Taking his lollipop from his mouth he placed it in one of the boys hands not caring as it stuck to his gloves. "Get rid of that, and go home." Waiting as the two remained in shock he continued forward stopping a few feet ahead awaiting Duchess to meet him at his side.

What this was all about, Galax hadn't the slightest idea.

"Kindness is my middle name," he threw back at the blonde using the same airy tone she had. Although he didn't want to admit it, Galax was indeed in shock that he was walking with Duchess. He wasn't attracted to her in the physical sense, her gold skin was quite jarring, but she did hold her own as a career. The boy always made sure to take notice of potential threats in the center, and Duchess had been one he kept an eye on. Sure she was stunning and had a reputation, but so did he. Smiling to himself he wanted to almost laugh. There is no way I'm comparing myself to her. I need to stop. Focusing back on her as a career he could sense she had the same drive he did. The both of them wanted to bring glory to District 2, even if it meant eliminating one another in the arena.

Steadily inching their way forward in the bitter cold Galax tried very hard to be as polite as possible. He knew he was an arrogant prick, but there was no reason to not enjoy a few miniscule moments with a stranger. She's not that much of a stranger, his mind argued. "So, were those your minions or your friends?" The question caught the brown eyed boy off guard. For a split second he wasn't entirely sure how to respond. If he said friends she was sure to know he was lying, but if he said minions he'd sound like some controlling monster. Biting down softly on his lower lip Galax pondered over an answer to give the girl. Once one that was good enough filled his mind he responded, "Who really has friends nowadays?"

In a way the response made sense to him. It was so hard in life to actually trust people. To allow anyone to be so close would just hurt you in the long run. "We're not trained to have friends," he continued, "we're trained to kill." He was certain she would comprehend that the fellow careers back in the square were more like followers. They enjoyed being around Galax because Galax was fantastic at what he did and they wanted to surround themselves with accomplishment and talent. Little bloodsuckers, his mind spat. Kicking his boot into the ground as he walked, the boy dug both of his hands into his front jeans pockets and continued forward.

Allowing some time to elapse he decided to break the silence. "So, how about you? I'm sure you have plenty of friends. Or so I've heard." Even when he wanted to make normal conversation he still had to be a jerk. He knew she would take the last remark offensively, but Galax didn't mind. She was strong enough to handle an insignificant remark. It'll probably make her feel popular he assured himself. "How far away do you live? I can feel my face freezing." Hopefully she would laugh, or he'd just give up on her entirely.