![Baby Wessex d9b [earthling] Avatar](https://64.media.tumblr.com/de401f4e6e4ca07c241afc45583f7195/d2f1890293928896-84/s500x750/0ba6fe3572f4f5f72b52d28965cfcda71e4171a0.png)
Take Me Where I Cannot Stand // [ Saffron/Mace ]
Oct 22, 2014 11:13:19 GMT -5
Post by Baby Wessex d9b [earthling] on Oct 22, 2014 11:13:19 GMT -5
a note from the desk of
Mace Emberstatt
when you never thought that it could ever get this tough,of District Ten
that's when you feel my kind of love
It was late in the real world. The day had stretched on and on, the anthem a blip of a memory. It had gone like that since the beginning. Whereas dawn usually mustered tribute's courage, in the absence of the sun, the arena's inner clock had twisted. He could barely keep up with them after three days. Kirk and Esme were wont to be awake in the middle of the night, traversing the labyrinth, when he needed to sleep. They had only just established a routine twelve hour night with Mason and Juliet, and it was glorious. And now he was breaking his own rules, just to sit on the couch and hope for better.
But it never got better.
It was nearly supper time. Mason and Juliet were down in the creche, waiting to be picked up. He couldn't ask Julian to get them, as his tributes were in equally shit circumstances. And there was someone else in the creche he wanted to see.
The jacket, which rested so lightly in his arms in the safety of Ten's chambers, was a deadweight by the time he reached the double doors. He'd run the last several meters, head craned to catch a glimpse of the next screen. It never showed him what he wanted to see, just like mirrors. A smarter man would have stopped looking. A smarter man would have hardened himself against the effects of age, the politics of the Capitol, the inevitable end of caring for ghosts.
After so many hours of watching the stuttering black and white screens, it was blinding to walk into the creche. Bright lights and garish colors, screams of joy and raucous laughter assaulted him. Mace lifted the worn jacket, shielding himself against the onslaught. "Saffron!" He bellowed over the cacophony. It hiccuped, just for a moment, in the wake of an adult yelling. And then the children went back to their play, and Mace finally lowered the jacket.
He didn't have to look at the televisions ringing the room. He only had to look at Saffron's face.
He crossed the room, gathering her up, the jacket pressed between them. "I'm so fu-" He glanced down at a little face, and lowered his voice. "Sorry. I thought we had a better chance this time too. Ain't right. Ain't right at all."
But it never got better.
It was nearly supper time. Mason and Juliet were down in the creche, waiting to be picked up. He couldn't ask Julian to get them, as his tributes were in equally shit circumstances. And there was someone else in the creche he wanted to see.
The jacket, which rested so lightly in his arms in the safety of Ten's chambers, was a deadweight by the time he reached the double doors. He'd run the last several meters, head craned to catch a glimpse of the next screen. It never showed him what he wanted to see, just like mirrors. A smarter man would have stopped looking. A smarter man would have hardened himself against the effects of age, the politics of the Capitol, the inevitable end of caring for ghosts.
After so many hours of watching the stuttering black and white screens, it was blinding to walk into the creche. Bright lights and garish colors, screams of joy and raucous laughter assaulted him. Mace lifted the worn jacket, shielding himself against the onslaught. "Saffron!" He bellowed over the cacophony. It hiccuped, just for a moment, in the wake of an adult yelling. And then the children went back to their play, and Mace finally lowered the jacket.
He didn't have to look at the televisions ringing the room. He only had to look at Saffron's face.
He crossed the room, gathering her up, the jacket pressed between them. "I'm so fu-" He glanced down at a little face, and lowered his voice. "Sorry. I thought we had a better chance this time too. Ain't right. Ain't right at all."
