ghostly scene

The truth is ugly, well I feel ugly too. We'll be heroes on every bar stool. Seeing double beats not seeing one of you Everett Lance. District Two. Victor of the 125th Biannual Hunger Games.

[ennalydonsbee]

Enna had a job of her own. Things to pack up, things to snag for herself, for outfits for later. Everett wasn't the only one with that idea, although it was surprising to see him in the stylist's studio. The rest of them were darting in like rats, laying claim to what they needed and squirreling it away to finish their work. but what was he doing there? "Oh. okay..." She believed him. she was sure he was. but the question was still present. She asked it. "can I help?"

[everettcannon]

"Well..." Everett rubbed his neck, wondering if Enna would help or if she'd hold the line that it was not technically allowed to take an outfit that a tribute had worn. But Enna had been a rebel, hadn't she? So he decided to try it. "Lance's mom, she wanted me to bring home Lance's interview outfit."

[cain-gunn]

Cain spotted Everett, and he dipped away from a conversation between sponsors that he was only half participating in anyway. Lyra had done enough to sell her own potential, so Cain hadn't needed to push very hard for support. "Yeah, no, that was wild," Cain agreed easily, shifting his palm from where it was stretched over the rim of his glass as he raised it for a sip. "I knew she and Lance weren't friends, but woah." It was an unexpected start to the Games, and did technically lower their chances of a win for Two, but there was something to be said about giving the audience a good show and getting to concentrate resources. "On the bright side, I was talking to Marcia Godwin, and she is already so sold. I barely had to even ask."

[everettcannon]

Everett nodded, pleased with that. "Not too much of a surprise. She's making our job pretty damn easy, I'll give her that. If this is the last Games, I'm glad to get to go out like this." She was making district two look pretty good.

[liliana-cannon]

"Are you trying to kill that body too?" Liliana taunted right back-- no way was she deferring any space to him, she would stay, and she'd try to irritate him off the roof. She used to be plenty good at that. With old Everett, she had to remind herself quickly. This was not him. She tugged her jacket tighter around her shoulders, narrowing her eyes at the thing that looked like her brother. "Isn't it like, illegal to desecrate a dead body?"

[everettcannon]

Everett rolled his eyes. "And you care?" He knew that she didn't, that she was just saying whatever she could to hurt him -- but he didn't understand why. "I'll do what I want. It's my body. Not your brother's." It felt strange and distant to say, but this was what she felt, the line she herself held.

[everettcannon]

Everett had been skirting his sister, trying his best to avoid her, but it wasn't possible to do so forever, certainly not in a Tower that felt so damn small sometimes. He was on the roof with a cigarette, scrolling through the list of active sponsors, some of whom were new, some of whom he was surprised had returned, when he spotted Liliana moving through the flowerbeds. "I was here first, in case you're about to get pissed at me," he called out, smoke blowing through his lips.

@liliana-cannon

[everettcannon]

Everett was in the stylists' studio, rooting around in the District Two area, looking for the outfit that Lance had worn during his interview just the night before. His mother had asked for it, and Everett wanted to at least give her something, even if he shouldn't be stealing. It was late, though, and he was alone -- until someone opened the door and he jumped about a thousand feet in the air, excuses slipping from his lips immediately: "I was just... looking for something."

@ennalydonsbee

[everettcannon]

Everett found himself heading toward the sponsor's lounge, his tablet pulled up with Lyra's impressive stats already displayed on it. Four kills in just the Bloodbath alone: that was a very good sign for Two.

He just wished she hadn't killed her own district partner. Running into Cain on the way, he voiced his annoyance. "I'm all for Lyra showing what she can do, but taking out her district partner right away... I mean." He shook his head. "Damn." Lance wasn't just her district partner -- he was someone Everett had gotten to know, had worked with. He had been rooting for both of them.

@cain-gunn

[cade-bentley]

"Do I look like I'm lying?" he asked, eyes flicking up to Everett's, face stony. Especially after what had just happened, he wasn't in a joking or lying mood. And while maybe he usually wasn't one to care people's impression of him... he wanted Everett to take him seriously.

[everettcannon]

He could see that it was true, that Cade was genuine; that he really would have done what it took to come save him, and that there may have been some reality, however distant from the one that existed, where Cade really did fight through lines of Tarren and come bursting through the doors of that medical clinic to rescue him. His heart leapt a bit, feeling something akin to happiness for the first time in awhile, since it had all started -- and he felt even more guilty for pushing him away. "Fuck, I'm sorry, Cade. I... I'm trying here, but I'm sorry."

[sxllout]

Excellent. Everett had moved on from the mushy gushy shit. Monty followed suit with a jackal-like bark of laughter. "Please," he said, voice dripping with amused disdain. "The last time Liliana had a good opinion was when she wore that gorgeous gown to my Victor's Ball, and that was ten years ago and I'm pretty sure mom picked it out for her."

Monty's lips curled into a smile. "Don't listen to anything she says. Especially if she's trying to convince you of something. If it has to do with business, fine - she's pretty good at that. But any other opinions? Double check them with me."

[everettcannon]

"I think I can weed through bullshit on my own, thanks," Everett said, slightly defensive, but it lacked real bite because it was pretty clearly not true. He'd always been the gullible youngest sibling, and even now he was having a lot of trouble not taking what Lil said to heart. His expression showed that he was wounded by it, that regardless of Monty's opinion, Liliana's still mattered to him.

[greer-morgan]

"A hell of a catch, huh?" She flashed her eyebrows at Everett, choosing to pull out that specific snippet from his point. It was a knee-jerk reaction to avoid the more sincere portion of his argument. Greer didn't particularly bode well with feeling out of control, and this was a situation that had snowballed so far from even the illusion of control. The more she said it out loud, the more she had to acknowledge everything she was powerless to change. "I've almost told him so many times," she confessed. "But I keep psychin' myself out thinkin' there's gonna be some moment it'll make sense." In truth, Greer was being a coward, avoiding giving Mahlon a reason she wasn't sure he'd want to have. "And now, suddenly, there ain't really a whole lotta time for moments left."

[everettcannon]

Everett eyes widened as realization dawned on him -- "Wait, you're saying he doesn't know?" he asked, a bit incredulous. He had just been operating under the assumption that Mahlon knew the baby was his, that Greer had filled him in on everything. But, well, he wasn't sure he could blame her for not sharing that. He could see why she might want to give him the choice -- the out, if only to see if he'd take it.

[cade-bentley]

"Because you were missing," he explained, tone clipped. He scowled at his toes. "Because-- because I didn't know how else to find you. Because I knew you were probably taken by the Tarren, and the only way to get close to them is through the Vox. Figured-- figured it might make them hate me a little bit less around here, besides." The last part was true, sure, but it hadn't factored at all into his decision making, it was all Everett. Anything else was a side effect.

[everettcannon]

Everett gaped at him, genuinely surprised, open-mouthed. Maybe it was their slow beginning, the way they'd just rolled into being in a relationship... but he hadn't thought Cade would do that for him. "Fuck. Are you serious? You're not lying to me?"

[greer-morgan]

“I’m alright,” she confirmed, because it wasn’t like there was really an alternative. She had made her choices, and now she was living in the reality of those choices. She just had to continue to put one foot in front of the other, to keep moving. “But you got any advice on tellin’ an amnesiac that you’re not stalkin' him, you're jus' havin’ his baby, let me know,” she laughed, the sound quickly melting into a groan as Greer scrubbed her hand over her face. The absurd humor of it could only buffer so much.

"Thank you, s'all I ask," she laughed.

[everettcannon]

"Well look, if he fell for you once, he'll do it again," Everett pointed out. "No reason he wouldn't. You're a hell of a catch, and he liked you the first time around. This time he'll have even more reason to, right?"

[astorian-waldorf]

Astorian nodded his head. "I learned a lot of things that the Capitol or Two couldn't teach me. Showed me why the Games were evil. How so many were suffering. Helped me decide that I was going to help where I could. Usually came in the form of paying for things with a little extra than they wanted for it, especially on my off days. Took a long time, for them to talk to me, but they eventually decided I was one of the good ones. It's surprising....what talking can accomplish, even if the other side isn't ready to talk yet. I found it easiest to talk to the people in Eight......didn't have to worry about them running to my father."

[everettcannon]

Everett tilted his head to the side. "Evil?" he repeated. Astorian sounded a little like Alder. All black and white. Everett wasn't a fan of the Games anymore, but he would also not call them evil. He understood what the Vox did: the Games were a means to an end. But it was a surprising take from Astorian, of all people. A Capitolite. A former high-ranking Peacekeeper. And now a stylist -- for the Games.

"What's that make you then? The Games were evil but you were still supporting the regime?" He didn't understand what mindset could make those things make sense together. "Ah, but you were one of the 'good ones.'" He snorted a laugh. He'd accepted long ago that he wasn't one of the good ones, that he was incapable of it. Maybe he could do small good here and there; but only maybe. The most dangerous thing was a Capitolite who was utterly delusional to that. "Are you a good one now? Now that you're, what, playing dress-up as part of the evil Games?"

[greer-morgan]

"I... dunno," she answered honestly. It was a grim thought, but it was also a realistic one— something that maybe she was going to have to start coming to terms with in order to move forward. "He's gettin' little things back, but they're jus' details. S'all random an' outta order. Not a lot that he can actually string together." It wasn't enough to really see the big picture. "Startin' to figure that if it was gonna happen, it would'a happened by now."

"You're relegatin' Cade to snack boy? Ain't even lettin' him play? That's cold," she laughed. "If I ever suddenly get the urge to get to know Cain, then I need help, 'cause I'm bein' blackmailed." Mostly, Cain had committed the crime of being thirteen when Greer first met him, but even now, he seemed about as interesting and as spoiled as a long forgotten jug of milk.

[everettcannon]

"And you're... okay?" He still didn't quite know what he'd say if she said she wasn't; he wasn't the comforting type by any means. But maybe he knew a little bit about coming back wrong. About not really fitting into what you were supposed to be. Maybe he could kind of understand what Mahlon would be feeling right now.

"Cain's not everyone's cup of tea," Everett allowed, "so if you ever start striking up a friendship, I'll look into it, save your ass. Trust me." He laughed.

[cade-bentley]

He pursed his lips and looked down, scuffed at the edge of the rug with his toes. "I don't know," he admitted. "What we always do? Figure it out, I guess." He cleared his throat. "And... I mean, I... sortof volunteered to join up with the Vox? While you were missing. I don't have a date I'm sent out yet but... maybe it'll be the same place as you." Even Cade knew it was unlikely, yet still he kept the hope--maybe to keep himself going insane with regret because Everett had showed back up after all. He clenched his jaw, unable to look at Everett, bracing himself for his reaction.

[everettcannon]

Everett's eyes went wide. "What?" He did not expect that. Cade wasn't really... the fighting type, to say the least. But Everett liked that about him. He was soft, strangely naive. He wasn't like Everett, wasn't cold to the world, to everything. "Why did you do that?"

[liliana-cannon]

"That's because I'm the same person," she replied coldly. For a moment, she stared at him, forcing down the pain. She was not going to cry, and she did not feel sympathy for him. Clearing her throat, she looked down and began to gather her things. "Happy Hunger Games," she said in steely goodbye through grit teeth as she rose, items clutched to her chest.

[everettcannon]

For a second, he thought she might break; might see that he was just him, he was her brother still. He was sure that he saw it in her expression, her posture -- a bit of hesitation. But then she shut it down, and it was over. He frowned. "Fuck you too, Liliana," he snapped by way of his own goodbye, not interested in fake niceties.

[sxllout]

Monty tilted his head to the side. "Yeah, well. The Games brought you back to us, too." He squared his jaw, choosing to look off in the same direction as Everett. "And not a day goes by that I don't thank the Games for doing just that."

He paused for a moment before feeling compelled to speak again. "And we we're so proud of you, you know. Both times. Proud of how you fought, proud of what you did. Proud to call you a Cannon." Monty hazarded the quickest of glances towards his brother. "Still damn proud to call you one, too."

[everettcannon]

Everett found that he couldn't fully look at him; not when he was being complimentary, kind. It wasn't really in the Cannon blood to be soft like this, so he wasn't used to responding to it. "You might be the only one," he said, dodging it, though he still felt warmed by Monty's kindness, the fact that he was clearly so genuine in his words. He let himself believe them -- that Monty really was proud. Had been, still was. Despite everything, all the ways Everett had failed. "Lil made it pretty clear she disagrees."

[cade-bentley]

"You sure? Because people love me. Probably even the Tarren." Something in the air released between them, the tension cut by Everett's smile-- however broken and small it was. Cade still didn't move to sit near him, though. Just in case. "Not that I'm complaining. About being here. About you letting me crash your life in the Tower for another Games."

[everettcannon]

Everett allowed a smirk at Cade's joke and looked sideways at him. "One more Games," he corrected, but he didn't really have much belief in that -- and his tone betrayed as much. "What'll we do if the Games don't really come back? If I have to return to the front, and you're here?"