magnetic deviation [Griffin]

These might be the last peaceful nights Wander ever has, and ve can't sleep. Homesickness, mounting nerves, the buzzing aftermath of treating coffee like a comfort food for four days straight—every time ve thinks about it ve finds something else to blame, but none of them are things ve can fix. All ve can do is slide out of bed to pace the length of the District Four lounge for the fourth time that night, picking up and putting down trinkets without really seeing them.

Ve doesn't expect the elevator to respond. Taking Carmen to bed was the latest ve's been out and about, and they had both been warned—gently, but urgently, not that Wander is sure Carmen registered it through her bleary exhaustion—about encroaching on curfew. Ve only hits the button because it's something new to do with vis hands, and ve nearly jumps out of vis skin at the answering ping.

Why the hell not. These might be the last nights Wander ever gets to explore something, too.

The training rooms closed down hours ago, of course, and though there must be a way for mentors and Capitol staff to get to the dining hall at night, Wander has no clue where to go about finding it. Looking for a staircase on the rooftop yields nothing; Wander takes a few minutes to watch the sky, taking vague comfort in the moon shining as clearly as it ever does over the ocean despite the disquieting lack of stars, only for that restless energy to send ver back down.

A library entrance—not the one Wander found before, so at least ve's making some headway—turns out to be locked, too. Going back to the District Four floor works, so the others probably would, but the last thing ve needs is to interrupt someone else's restless night and have them accuse ver of an assassination attempt or something. The penthouse, though—no one stays there, right? It's worth a shot. Ve hits the button with exaggerated confidence and spins vis ring impatiently as the floor vibrates beneath ver.

The elevator dings, the doors slide open, and Wander gives the air a tiny, victorious punch as ve steps out from the fluorescents into the dim glow of the penthouse's emergency lighting.


me writing this post hopped up on caffeine at 1am: :hk: :hk: :hk:

still doing "Salvage a Smile" titles bc it's still got lyrics I haven't pulled from, heyo