Post by fireflyz on Aug 14, 2020 16:40:18 GMT -5
victor of the 85th hunger games
His first thought when he wakes up is that he should have let Perdita kill him.
Truly, it had been a miracle that they were the last two standing in the first place. But with miracles often comes misery, and both of them knew what had to come. District Four was guaranteed to get a victor either way, so there would have been no harm in Dominic giving up. It wasn’t cowardice to die at your district partner’s hand, even if you were really asking for it. He never thought Kestrel was a coward, just unfortunate. Later, when he compulsively watches the highlight reels in the training center, no longer having to conceal the sobs or the shivers that overtake his body, he doesn’t think Meredith is weak for letting Will set her ablaze.
But Perdita was not a particularly easy match to strike. He expected her to tell him all the reasons he shouldn’t have made it this far, to unleash a feral scream in his face like Kenji had, but she was as externally cool as she had always been and it frightened him. So he tipped the gas canister on her instead, and then there he was in the Capitol again, lungs full of smoke.
Dominic sits up, squinting against the blinding fluorescent lights. His limbs felt lighter, no longer buried in bandages and wounds. He’d heard bits of the medics’ conversation as he fleeted in and out of consciousness; something about infection, are his bones set properly, how were they supposed to get rid of the scars he had before. He reaches up to feel the side of his neck, fingers expanding against the familiar raised skin. It was still there. We still match.
Someone breezes into the room in a lab coat, sticking their hand out to greet him. He reluctantly shakes it, the other hand gripping the thin sheets beneath him. They talk, but Dominic is not listening, his mind still floating somewhere on the beach where so many lives had been lost. Cyro. Callum. Zenia. Perdita.
He wishes he could be holding the green and white dragon plushie close to his chest like he did that night, but he couldn’t bring himself to take it from her a second time. It was only expected that he’d run into Jade again, just as one of them was expected to bring home the crown. It was only expected that she’d want it to be a fair fight, even as Dominic silently begged her to do what so many of the other tributes should have done. She’d told him how she made a promise to Arabella, how her father had said she wouldn’t be missed. He merely answered, "I’ll miss you."
And he does. So, so much. He misses Pisces, who he only saw again in the anthem rather than in person. He misses Zenia and how she made him laugh despite the fact that everything was dying around them. Even now, when Dominic knows he’s safe, it still feels like his world is dying.
He goes home first, wraps his arms around his parents and tells them everything is okay when it’s not. His mother caresses his face like she did when he was little, and the small show of affection nearly makes his facade crumble. He finds Madelyn, they crack jokes even though nothing feels humorous. To survive is one thing, but living is harder.
While his loved ones showered him with pride and relief, he finds a frosty reception elsewhere. Calypso Leto is understandably not happy to see him. The way her jaw tenses merely reminds him of Perdita, finding niceties optional rather than a requirement. "Congratulations," she says softly, eyes lingering on the ground.
"I’m sorry, Caly-" he starts to say, but she has already whipped around, disappearing into the throes of the square. He gets the feeling that things won’t get any easier once the tour begins.
District One is somehow both more and less eventful than he anticipated. Jade’s family was nowhere to be found, even as he found himself wandering the streets to get to them. He catches a face that looks a bit like Jade’s peering around a corner, but the boy flees when Dominic approaches.
"Make sure they don’t forget me," she’d asked him.
"I will," he said. But it seemed like they were already trying.
By his luck, the boy reappears when Dominic is about to return to the train station, a worn book in his hands. Dominic kneels to his level, speaking softly. "Hi. What’s your name?"
"Gunner," the boy answers.
"Gunner... are you Jade’s brother?"
He nods, and Dominic feels an ache in his chest. He can’t think of what to say other than repeating what she would have wanted.
"Make sure you remember her, okay, kid? She was more of a fighter than I’ll ever be,” he implores. Gunner merely nods again before scurrying off, an anxious speck floating in the wind.
District Two brings the hopeful careers, but it also brings scorn that palpates the air. Meredith and Will were not what they wanted, but neither was Dominic.
He doesn’t expect to meet Zenia’s parents in Three, not after she proclaimed her desire to break free from them. Still, he leaves flowers at a memorial of his own design for her. He leaves pastries he stole from the train for her district partner.
Five ripples with discontent but also disinterest. Lysander’s voice still rings inside his head. "Not even in death. Unfortunately, there’s not many times when I’m wrong." She certainly wasn’t - none of this made sense at all.
Six, Seven and Eight blur by. He feels like he never stepped off the train, even though he knows he did.
He can’t bring himself to leave Nine when it’s time to go.
When he gets to Ten, he unconsciously searches the crowd for Temple Jones. Jade is the one who killed her sister, but Dominic feels responsible.
District Eleven radiates with sorrow and anger, and Dominic can’t tell where his own ends and where theirs begins. He shouldn’t be surprised to see Katelyn Persimmon approaching when he finally breaks away from the district square, but the child wiggling in her arms catches his eye.
"Dominic," she says in greeting.
"Katelyn, what a pleasure," he says with a dip of his head. He reaches out to squeeze the boy’s tiny hand, the corners of his mouth turning up. "Hello to you too."
Dominic’s hand falls to his side as he absorbs the situation, eyes flickering back to the older victor.
"I, uh, I didn’t realize you had a toddler," he says quizzically. He hadn’t studied previous Games or their victors to the extent that his father had, but he knew enough about Katelyn Persimmon to say that she hadn’t been pregnant recently.
"He’s –" Katelyn trails off, biting her lip. "His father’s last request was that I take care of him."
She gives Dominic a wan smile before continuing. "This is Xander Krane."
The name is familiar. His eyebrows knit together, pondering, and then the lines of his face smooth out as recognition hits. It’s Cyro’s son, and Dominic is back on the beach with Meredith screaming at him. "His kid’s name is Xander! Don’t you forget that you just made that two-year-old boy an orphan!”
At least he was no longer an orphan.
A more naive version of Dominic would say that it wasn’t his fault, that it had been Ezra - he knew the pie boy’s name now - but the him that was standing in front of Xander and Katelyn knew that he’d been complicit. And he’d have to continue being complicit, drowning himself in years of tributes from Four in the hopes one of them would make it back.
His cheeks hurt as he forces a smile. "It’s very nice to meet you, Xander."
On the ride to Twelve, he scratches a letter to deliver to Callum’s brother.
It is District Four, his home, that hurts the most. He floats around in the same train car that had taken him and Perdita to the Capitol months earlier, painfully aware of Beck and Annie’s presence. He wasn’t so far removed from them the year before - Beck was only a year older, after all - but now it was evident that a barrier had been crossed from being an outsider to being one of them. It was never his dream, sure, but some twisted part of him had still coveted that spot. Now he wants to give it up.
He has to be a mentor in a few months. A mentor.
"How do I convince someone they can make it out when I couldn’t even convince myself?" Dominic asks the wall, familiar tan and blue scenery whizzing through his peripheral vision. If either of them answers, he doesn’t hear it.
He once swore that he’d never get a tattoo, but a month after the tour ends, he finds himself stumbling into a parlor in the market. Soon, his shoulder stings with the mark of a dragon, a viper, and a zodiac sign. It will be sore for a while, but the memories will keep him going. They have to.
note-
i started planning my au at the end of day 8 and day 9 kinda threw off the initial rankings i used but here’s top 8 for clarity: 1) dom 2) perdita 3) jade 4) oberon 5) kahinta 6) lysander 7) pisces 8) will
thank you alyssa, zoë and rade for the dialogue/plotting!! more acknowledgements tk with his dp :sanic:
thread title: one song glory - rent
