Under The Sun [Yaa]

Yaa’s laughter was a heavenly sound and a soothing comfort after bearing the hardships of battle. It felt strange to admit to herself that she found the girl’s voice intoxicating, that she wouldn’t protest listening to her speak for hours even if it was only gibberish. Obviously their relationship had consisted mainly of a strong physical connection concealed behind closed doors, but there was an emotional aspect to it she couldn’t yet comprehend. Friendship, perhaps? No, her friendship was invested in Opal Shore - or was she merely an ally? That had been the original plan, to make allies rather than friends (they would all be buried within days, anyway) but evidently her plans could not be executed to perfection, since she had never expected to sleep with another tribute or lose an ear in the Bloodbath and escape with such little inventory. She could not allow herself to delve too deeply into the subject of arena relationships, but she would tolerate her own acknowledgement of Yaa Valarro as more than a mere friend or ally.

”God, you talk so formally,” Yaa said. The shifted attention to her choice of wording threw her off track and into a drawn-out string of silence. ”Here we are, covered in somebody’s dried blood-” She could mention names, actually, and she could recall their deaths, especially Sam’s. That had been her handiwork, after all. ”-you look like you’re missing an ear, we’ve just been through the living version of hell, and it’s ‘oh, quite, quite, what a pleasant surprise,’ like we’re just meeting up for lunch or something.” She normally didn’t take kindly to mocking of any form, but Yaa was right, and she couldn’t suppress the charmed smile that graced her lips. ”Sorry, it’s a habit,” she replied with a chuckle, scrawling a mental note to relax her prose in the future.

When she sifted through the contents of her rucksack - which looked undeniably full of items - and withdrew a walkie talkie as a gift, Locust raised her eyebrows at the odd contraption. She knew what it was and understood its use, but she didn’t recall ever seeing them in the Games before. It was surprising. ”Thanks,” she said, examining the device briefly before dropping it into her own rucksack. With only a handful of items Yaa probably already owned, there was nothing she could offer in return but gratitude. ”I don’t have anything useful to give in return, I’m afraid.” She paused and flashed another light-hearted smile. ”Other than my undying affection, but you already have that.”

Despite how nice it felt to joke in a bleak atmosphere that promised nothing but pain and misery, her delight was short-lived when she remembered the alliances they would be forced to return to. Opal and Drace would be awaiting her in the moss forest, and Yaa’s allies would be anticipating her return as well. ”Do me a favor, Yaa?” she said, and she meant for it to be one, final request before they parted. ”Don’t get yourself killed before I can see you again.”

[accepts walkie talkie]