On The Sidelines (Marree~Jeran)

The moment dad got home, he laid right into me. His heavy voice badgering me about Kya not being up to make the food and about me not doing as I was told with her training regiment. My sad attempt to making supper is probably what started it all though. When he walked through the door, I had nothing but a few steaming vegatables in three seperate bowls and some warm bread right out of the oven sat on the counter.

"What? You really want me to make something I have to cook from scratch? That's Kya's expertise." I press at him, and give him a plate as his harsh glare comes over my face and down to my hands. I've already started to flex my fist up a bit, but after todays excitement with Matthew, I'm on edge. You better not start, old man. I think to myself once again. He's quiet for now when he snatches the plate from my hands as he starts scooping up the vegitables on the plate then reaches for the warm bread. His grubby hands get ahold of two rolls and he puts them on the surface of his plate. His face is anything but grateful. I can't help but watch him closely from the corner of my eye when he sits down at the table.

"Where's Kyanite?" His eyes seem to be set aflame when he asks about my sister's current location. Though, I refuse to answer his question right off. Instead, I pile up the vegitables and grab the same number of bread that my dad did. I make it a meal. Without hesitating any further, I let the plate come into contact with the table rather roughly and sit down, not going for the fork at all. My dad, on the other hand, seems unbothered by the fact that I've refused to answer his question.

"She's in bed sleeping still. She's sick dad." I come out with more than just a whispered tone. The fork is suddenly within my right hand as I use my left hand to reach inbetween my legs to grab the chair and pull it closer to the table. I let the fork scoop generously at the corn several times before I stop and stare at the man in front of me. "Doctor came by, gave her some antibiotics and some pain medicine. I know it's going to cost..."

"Cost? Your damn right it's going to cost. Money that can be used elsewhere in your training. I told you she would be fine. I told you to make her work it out. Sweating it out will cure anything." He barks out as he rips into the bread. "You may not care about training anymore, but I'll be damned if I let her go to waste like you."

I jerk upward in my chair as it scratches against the floor creating a harsh noise that I barely even recognize. I know for a fact, I'm about to snap right now and the more I stare at him and his uncaring demeanor, I walk away from the kitchen table and stop at the door frame. "You're going to kill her one day, just like you did mom that day."

I bolt through the doorframe and turn to the left going down the hallway until I reach the stairs and take them quickly. I hardly recognize how I'd managed to get to the landing before I look down at Kya's door and sigh. With a heavy heart, I inch my way down to the door and pause as my fingers linger on the wood. "Kya?" I whisper out. I wait to see if she'll answer, but when her voice doesn't reach my ears, not even in the smallest amount, I push my way through the door slowly and walk into the dark of her room. There's hardly any light in here, except for a small dim bulb in the lamp beside her bed that barely even tells me that she's under the covers in that bed. A cough reaches my ears, as well as a slight moan and I feel a ton of bricks being hit against my chest.

"Kya? I'm sorry your sick..." I let my voice linger quietly as I sit on the edge of the bed with my back facing her. Another cough. A much more weaker cough this time. I can't help but drop my head down and rest my head on my hands that's being supported by my knees. The palms of my hands rub furiously all over my face, rubbing my eyes as a last resort when I turn around and place my hand on her cheek. "Still so warm, sis. How did you get so sick?"

I question her but I don't expect an answer until I hear her voice crack. "Lu..cky, I guess." I feel nothing but pity for her. I remove my hand just enough to move it to a different spot on her face and let it rest against her forehead for a moment when she elicites another word. "C.. cold."

I look down to the end of the bed and grab the second comforter I put on her bed earlier in case she needed it and I can feel the bed vibrate with her chill. I get up, and fix the blanket over her body and take my leave from the room.

Hours pass by as I lay in my bed, my mind drifting in and out of sleep for quite some time before I jump out of the comforts of my bed and go to the closet for some clothes. Training clothes. I'm not really one to spend my time wasting it, so I dress quickly and look to the clock and see that it's almost four in the morning. Just enough time to hit the gym for two hours before dad needs to wake to get ready for work. Just enough time for me to get to the gym and do what I need to in order to release some of this tension building up between dad and me. Before I leave the house, I stop by Kya's room once more, whisper that I'll be home later, and take off in my truck to hit the gym.

I stop in front of the training gym and jam the truck into park and sit there for a few minutes letting my mind settle. It doesn't do any good to go into training angry or upset so, a few minutes of staring into the darkness seems to help. Exiting the vehicle, I never even look up to notice that the lights are on in the gym. I've also never notice how quiet it was this early of a morning. I glance at my watch and see that it's just twenty minute after four. I grab the door and enter only to hear that someone's already hard at work on one of the punching bags. That sounds like a wonderful idea. Can't punch out the old man, but I can always imagine it. Almost as good without the satisfaction. Who is here though?

I wonder more inside and see instantly the child that's near the blonde haired woman going at it with the punching bag. It's all I can do to stop and stare at her shear determination to make sure to take whatever frustrations she has out on the inanimate object. I nod my head and start walking again.

"You know, children realy shouldn't be in here, Miss. It's dangerous." I let my voice carry out with my deep tone not worried to hide the pitch that echoes. I just want to make sure she hears me. I take no time at all unzipping my jacket just to let it drop on the floor and walk to one of the equipment closets, pulling a pair of boxing gloves out.

"What are you in for?"

The pair of boxing gloves look enticing to work with at such an early time today. My knuckles have had no contact with any surfaces since earlier when I got to jab them into the shoulders of that guy that my sister likes; that 'Matthew Dunham'. I rip open one part of the velcro and watch her for a few moments when she retorts my accusation about children being in the gym. She refers to the child as a toddler, but to me their all the same. Drooling little bodies that like to squeal with joy or stink at certain times of the days. I've never been around kids and neither has Kya so, any experience with them is void. Though, I do smile at the young one when she mimics around the mirror at herself. How interesting it will be to be a child with no thoughts. No fears. No emotional or physical setbacks to life. It's just simply being free to do whatever they want without fear of punishment. They have it so easy. Wait till you grow up kid.

"Toddler? Child. Baby. Anyone under six don't need to be in here anyways, though, at least she's not in the way. The gyms not crowded so, she'll not be underfoot." I say and stuff my gloves on my hands, pulling the straps to a close around my fingers that are just simply itching to be hitting something. I've got so much pent up stress right now that if I dont hit something, dad will be the one with a blackened eye or a bloody lip. Moving out will be the highlight of my life when I join the peacekeepers academy soon. My main goal is just to get out of the house, though, that still concerns me with Kya. Dad's not one to take much care toward either one of us when it comes to health. He's used to the old school way of working out a fever or something with training. Forces us to keep fighting through the pain and illnesses to keep us going and strong. This time, I feel he may have taken it too far. I'm sick of him. I'm sick of his ways. He'll pay. The minute I become a peacekeeper, he will know what it feels like to work through the pain cause he's going to feel nothing but that.

"what are you in for?" I call out to her and walk nearer to her, passing up the toddler and raising an eyebrow at her, barely lifting my lip to give a small smirk of a smile and turn my gaze back to one of the unused punching bags. The rough fabic looks so enticing to hit with my bare knuckles, but I'm not looking for much pain today. I've had enough. Though, the moment I touch the glove to the punching bag, the blonde woman with the kid replies.

"She forced me." I cock my head to the side, looking at her as if I didn't beleive her. How could a baby force anyone to do anything other than feed it or change it? How did the child force her to 'train'?

"That doesn't really seem logical. I'm guessing she don't even talk? How in Panem, did she 'force' you to train? It's in the middle of the night?" My curiosity takes over as I bend my knees just enough to go ahead and start working out some of the hatred through each punch. A few heavy, labored breaths come on each time I connect the glove to the bag, my eyes afixed upon one tiny thread that's holding together a single stitch. My gaze is unwavering when I hear her ask me the same question I did her. Though, she's taken to refreshing herself with some hydration. I pause when my glove hits that single thread that I've been staring at and I hold on to the bag to get it to stop swaying.

"Me? Just destressing before I punch out my old man for his stupidity." I'm not going to lie. Not to a total stranger that I'll probably never meet again. Whose to say she'll even be listening to me when she's got her kid her or whoever the child is. That brings up the question that has me wondering since the moment I laid eyes on the kid. "What? You got babysitting duty?"

Already, this woman's already defended what I just said about having children in the training center, now she questions herself in a manner that I have offended her. My only reaction is a mere head shake when she suggests that she's stupid. "I never meant for you to take it that way, my apologies. Just watching out for the little rugrat." I casually let my voice ring out but before I can start pounding away on the bag, she has yet another comment to something else that I said. I must not be doing well tonight to speak to people. Has my old man pissed me off that much that I'm taking it out on everyone else... or just her? I hold my position on the bag though listening to her talk about the child's vocabulary and her apparent amusement for what I said. I don't get the joke?. However, my response to that is that I simply pass it off by hitting the bag a few times before it becomes still.

"I can understand that one." Connecting with others along the lines of family problems never has occured with me before, not even me telling what I was here for. Though, without even trying to hide it, I tell her straight up that my old man is the entire reason, and a small bit of it unspoken about being worried for my sister. She don't need to know, even when she tells me that I can tell her if I'd like too. I throw my hand into the bag again, making the noise echo throughout the very vacant gym. I give my head a very noticable shake without it showing too much enthusiasm.

"No can do. Personal family issues equals personal business. Sorry. I don't usually discuss my homelife with anyone." I tell her without even thinking about it. But while I don't discuss my personal business with anyone, I'm curoius if she might, so I try to keep her talking because it's actually calming me a bit to have someone to talk to that isn't badgering me to train or make my sister get up when she's running a fever and seriously ill.

"What? You got babysitting duty?" I keep the punches rolling now, one after another waiting for her voice to come across the way to tell me to stop barrating the bag long enough to hear her. She does with very little information at first. She then claims that the mom gets the day shift while she gets the night shift. I raise an eyebrow to her adn once again hug the bag to keep it from swinging too much.

"It seems like it would be the other way around. The mom would get the night shift instead. I mean, don't you... obviously, have to get up with the kid? Seems like a hassle and a bit too much interruption for sleep." My shoulders go up and down quickly mocking the form of not caring too much. Sleep for me right now must be like for her. Non existant. I'm also pretty sure that she don't have the problems that I have at home.

"Vy? It's quite nice to be meeting you." I tell her without a smile, but my voice is welcoming and calm. Then she goes to introduce the toddler that had suddenly became quiet for some reason and when she mentions the child's name, I see how she's suddenly passed out to the world. That, by itself, for some reason brings a smile to my lips, though It only shows outwardly as my lips moving upward.

"Leaving so soon?" I say as she gets up to pick the child up but instead of wrapping the child up to take her home, she merely places her on the bench. It's an interesting sleeping spot, but not that it would be as comfortable as a bed, though the child was content just in the floor sleeping.

"Not a care in the world. Lucky little bugger. If I decided to just drop down and snooze here, people would have different opinions of me." I turn my attention away from the woman and start hammering the bag. Once again, I aim directly for the stitch I had my eye on earlier. That small run that has started and soon it'll have to be covered with duct tape in order to be kept usable.

Once. A big huge huff of a breath comes out, with my forehead wrinkled up in concentration.

Twice. I grit my teeth and purse my lips against the force I'm pushing toward the bag.

Third time my glove hits it with so much force, I see the small stitch snap and the run opens up just a tiny millimeter. It's not much, but when I see the progress from that one hit, it sends this little stamp of approval in my head. Now to just apply that to my old man, and Kya and me won't have to worry about him harrassing us any more. I hope Kya's doing alright still. I glance up at the clock seeing that it states its just five after five, I can get a little bit more training in before I need to be back at the house to check on her and make sure my old man isn't forcing her to move from that bed. My sights are placed back on the blonde as I recall her name being Vy and I remember, all too quickly, that I didn't offer up my name in return. I mentally curse myself.

"Sorry for my rudeness. The gloves are a distraction from the now. It's Jeran." I figured that I'd get out of having to introduce myself like a little kid to someone knew, but I guesss growing up will never change. Meeting new people is mandatory and thus, introductions, are just a way of life.

"Peacekeeper academy. Heard about it before?" I question her all of a sudden for no reason at all. I guess I'm trying to strike up the conversation about it to a complete stranger before I lay the news out to my father that I'm joining it. I watch the woman with curiosity. She don't have any obligations other than babysitting her sister, so, maybe it's my way of asking if I'd see her around more often.

"I can imagine. How lucky is she right?" I hear her tell me before I start berrating the bag again. Though, there's something in the way that she moves the hair away from the child's face that makes me wonder if that's the way I treat Kya. She's very protective of the child I can see, and she loves her very much. There's no doubt about that. For only a moment, I watch her out of the corner of my eye then the take my anger out on the bag, proving to myself that I have the sheer determination to do what I need to in a moments notice. Just one more second and I would have been out the door before Kya's voice would have reached me. That one word. Don't... Matthew would have been beaten black and blue by the time I'd gotten done with him and it would match the color of Kya's lips when I found her. That would have been a wonderful sight to see. That would have done me wonders to make sure that he would never hurt her again, though, I've taken care of that problem. He will never see her again, if I can help it.

My apology doesn't sit well with Vy because the moment I try to make up for not giving her my name when she had so graciously given me hers, she throws it off on the child that's being the rudest around the gym. I push my head against the punching bag and chuckle, hiding my smile. Only a moment later, I lean up from the bag and cross the distance over to her while she's on the mat stretching, meeting the two gloves together and hitting them a few times. "Your sister's name is nice. But... her name don't suit her though if she's suppose to be the rudest around these parts. Brooklyn just sounds too cutesy. Brook... would suit her better to make an impression."

Am I flirting? With her? I raise one side of my lips upward in a half smile fashion before taking a moment before asking her about the peacekeeper academy. She's quick to answer me though telling me that she's enrolled. That's wonderful. I guess I'll be seeing you around then. How quaint.

"Don't tell me I'll be see you in class? Honestly, you don't seem like the type." I raise my head up, making my chin prominent in my features before nodding my head, and I reach to the velcro on the gloves to take them off, one by one. As soon as my hands are free, I put them both under my left arm and cross my hands over my body and step my feet outward and apart to support my build.

"Type? You mean to tell me, I have a type?" I'm curious, a devious little smirk coming across my face to that question that she says to me. I want to hear this. "Go on, Miss Vy... what is my type? Who am I to you? What do you see me as?" I have got to be joking. I am flirting with her now. I play it off though. I stare at her with this intensity like I'm boring a hole through her head. Watching her every move and facial expression. Waiting...




Day 3: 554 PAT

"Too built to be a keeper? Really?" My head moves upward a couple of times to emphasis my curiousity of why she mentioned that I would hardly be peacekeeper material. How can anyone be too built? One has to be in top shape in order to be a peacekeeper and I've done everything I can to make sure to keep up those appearances and she's dissing me? Unless.. did she just let slip that she was actually looking at me in that way. I feel a smirk coming across my face as she tries to keep the charade going and to cover up that small bit of her noticing me. By now, I'm all too ready to take a shot at her again but I keep my posture and my cool. "First, I'm too built, now I'm typeless. You women change your mind too much."

I state that with a hint of humor, although I'm not sure it sounded like it. Humor isn't my forte and normally, Kya would tell me that no matter what, my tone is always either threatening or just bland. What is this woman's opinion of it? Does she take me as being harsh or too bland? But more importantly, why do I care? Watching her turn around after her comment she sighs. So, she is bored with my tone, so I know better than to egg it on any longer. Once is my limit since she's obviously not in that mindset to flirt back with me. Perhaps, the mood at home is causing me be thrown off from trying anymore. Though, I can't help, while she's turned, to appriciate each curve of her body, letting my eyes linger just a little longer on that one area, until she turns. My eyes divert away quickly in hopes she didn't notice, but if she did, I wouldn't deny it. For the first time, I feel as though I should be finding that someone to be with. My sister did, though, I wish she'd have waited until she was past the reaping age like I am. Or rather, was going to.

With this woman standing in front of me, I may be fighting against my own advice. Who cares. It's your own advice. Follow or go against it. You do as you want. Just as soon as she turns back to me, her gaze is suddenly going to the kid again. Watching her be so jumpy with the little girl is curious how she flinches with every movement the child makes. Without notice, there's a sudden chuckle from me.

"Nervous she's going to fall off the bench or something? Don't fret. Best to start getting little bumps and bruises the younger they are. She'll get used to it once she starts training. Besides, kids are alway falling out of bed. Never hurt any of us. A bad dream or just simply a wild sleeper... it happens to the best of us. Geeze, overprotective sister much?" I have to wonder where that last bit came from as she goes back to swinging at the bag, but for some reason, I want to talk to her more, because I've already taken my mind off of what's going on at home. I take the bag with my hands and steady it for her as I bring my head around to one corner to watch her just as she asks a personal question.

"Yeah. One. A younger sister, though not quite as young as yours over there sleeping away. She's the reason I'm here. She's ill." With my own heavy sigh, she hits the bag with such force making me take a step backward to accomadate the movement without me expecting it. I'd rather not have her asking any more questions that may lead to why I'm really here, so I change the subject back to something we've already got in common. "So, what's your deal with the peackeeper academy? Why you joining? Parents making you or it is a personal choise like mine? I plan on making a name for myself. Joining the ranks and advancing up from there. Heard about the classes they are going to be offering for us? Think you'll be able to deal a punishment to some lowlife? Cause, I can't see you doing that."