I Know You're Scared, I've Been There

Macintosh 'Mac' Packard x 24 x District 3 x Victor of 115th Hunger Games

[dylanstopper]

[macxpackard]

Brothers

@willcassidy

[macxpackard]

“Do you have any guesses for the arena?” Mac asked the random tribute that was beside him. “At this point I feel like they’ve already done almost every theme possible yet they still come up with something new and amazing.” He rambled on. “Some sort of lava volcano theme could be pretty cool, huh?”

@pepper-it-in​

[macxpackard]

cecilfaust​:

.

You don’t really win. It wasn’t the kind of thing a tribute wanted to hear, but Cecil nodded in understanding. Because what did it mean to win the Hunger Games if someone you loved ended up in the arena anyways? It wasn’t enough that the guy had survived, but now he had to watch his brother do it all over again. Cecil’s seen enough Games to know that it never turned out well for these guys. “Twelve doesn’t have the best track record,” Cecil admitted. “It’s not enough that I have to fight against Academy-trained Careers, but these tributes from Thirteen? Nothing against them, but the last thing I needed was two more kids to outlast.”

Mac listened to him and nodded his head, letting out a sigh. “I understand. Three isn’t doing too hot, either.” He told him. At least Seraphina from Twelve had won only a couple of years ago whereas Three hadn’t won since Mac. “You have an amazing team, I’m sure you’ll do great.” He tried to be reassuring even though he didn’t even know the guy. It was also hard since the was kid was going to be going against his brother. “It’s a sucky situation and the Thirteen kids seem to be pretty smart.. but more bodies could also be a good thing.” Mac began to explain. “More people to take the other tributes out. Or, more kids to align with.”

[macxpackard]

vix-holt​:

Vix was wandering the halls, doing her best to steer clear of the team for a little while longer, mainly because she wasn’t ready to strategise, to make plans, to work out just how little of a chance she had in all this.

She stepped into the viewing room before she realised someone else was there, and she was about to sneak right back out when her foot caught on a chair and she tripped up, stubbing her toe and cursing at the pain, announcing her presence even though it’s not what she wanted. This all happened around the same time he’d kicked the chair over, and now they were face to face and she couldn’t just walk back out. “You alright?” She asked, even though she didn’t really care, holding her right foot between her hands to stop the sting.

Mac had heard a sound from the other side of the room and quickly looked over to see what it was. When he saw someone over there, he froze for a moment. He also couldn’t help but noticed that she had seemed hurt. “Uh, yeah..” Mac  started. “Just didn’t like where that chair.” He lied. “Are you okay?” He asked her, looking at her foot. “Do you need to see the nurse?” It would be terrible if the girl had hurt her foot too badly. A sprain or broken foot before the arena would definitely make things more difficult.

[macxpackard]

summer-hazer​:

Sooner rather than later, because Summer probably didn’t have too much of a later, she’d taken to exploring the gigantic building. Crystal, marble and sleek and expensive furniture wherever she looked, Capitol luxury was as profound and over the top as ever. She thought it was absolutely insane. Who needed a massaging chair that wouldn’t just massage your back but actually your whole body, depending on what settings you chose on the little remote on the armrest, when other people were working themselves to death out on a blazing hot wheat field? 

It was all horribly distracting, so much so that Summer only realized she’d walked in on a private moment when a yell sounded and a chair clattered to the opposite end of the room. Startled, she looked at the man with wide eyes. Another victor, she assumed. “Sorry. Didn’t know this room was, uh, occupied. You… okay?”

Mac had immediately noticed that he had startled the girl and held his hands up quickly to show he was harmless. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” He quickly apologized at losing his cool. Running his fingers through his hair to slick back any hair that had fallen out of his place, he took a deep breath in to calm himself down. “I’m fine.” Mac answered quickly. “I’m just blowing some steam and anger before I have to sit my little brother down and tell him how much of an idiot he is.” He knew he may have overshared but he couldn’t help it. His heart rate was in the high 140′s and felt he had no control over what he said or did.

[macxpackard]

chip-foster​:

Chip was there. Even if he no longer served on Three’s team, he was still a representative of Three’s victors, so he was on stage when it happened. It was a gut punch to an observer like him. What Mac was going through was worse, he knew. He didn’t know the intricacies, didn’t know just what emotions the man was feeling, but Chip knew. He’d been there before. 

On the train, he was always kept separate. It wasn’t a good idea to have a Gamemaker interacting with tributes. As soon as he got back, he had to get Evie home and pack a bag in case he got stuck at the Tower for several days. The whole time, he thought of Mac and William. He should’ve avoided the team, avoided the raw emotion of it all, but he found himself going to Three’s floor when he was back in the Tower. He heard the chair fall as the elevator doors opened. Chip stayed quiet for a few moments, not sure what to say. He tried to remember 120, tried to think of what he was desperate to hear then. All he wanted to know was that it wasn’t real, that it was an awful nightmare. He couldn’t tell Mac that. 

“Wh-What will help him win?” Chip asked finally. He couldn’t change anything, he couldn’t do anything as a Gamemaker to try to save William’s life. But at the very least, he could try to put himself in the shoes of a mentor, for just a few minutes. Mac deserved to be just a brother. 

When Mac looked and saw Chip standing there, he was able to relax a bit. If there was anyone he felt most comfortable with in the tower, it was obviously Chip. He gave Chip a look a desperation and defeat, because that was the two emotions he was feeling. He was desperate for answers on how to get William out of the arena. Chip was able to get Mac out, maybe he could have the answers on how to get William out, too. The defeat feeling came from already feeling like he lost his brother. At this point, Mac saw William as a walking corpse. And it wasn’t that he doubted his brother, he just doubted himself. 

“I dont know, man.” He told Chip honestly, his voice shakey. “I’ve done a bit of training with him before.. he knows what to expect from the arena, but at this point, I don’t know what would help him. Probably a better fucking mentor.” He told him before pacing around the room as if that would help him find the answers. Mac knew once District Three had lost Chip as a mentor they were in trouble, and he was feeling that more than ever now. “I just don’t understand why he would do this.”

[macxpackard]

cecilfaust​:

.

Cecil shouldn’t have wandered off from his team, but things were already moving too fast for his liking. Sure, it was his first day and the Games were bound to get even more hectic, but could anyone blame him for taking a breather? Finding the mentor from Three breaking down in the viewing room, he felt the least bit comforted knowing that he at least wasn’t worse off than him. 

Quietly, he sat down nearby and kept a healthy distance from the Victor. Nobody, not even Cecil, could remember much about people from Three. Then, a light went off in his head as he made the realization. Packard. Well, shit. “William, or is it Cassidy? That’s your brother, right? Hell of a thing to volunteer like that.”

Mac looked at the man who had sat down nearby. He recognized him as a tribute, only because he had locked himself in a room on the train and watched the reapings on repeat. What else did he have to do anyway? “William Cassidy.” He told the man. “Yeah, he’s my younger brother. And I’m still trying to figure out why he even volunteered.” Mac told him, sighing. “I don’t think he understands what he signed up for. Even if you do survive the games, you don’t really win.” Mac knew he was probably going to be accused of double standards since he volunteered but that felt different. “He’s just going to tell me I volunteered also and just throw that in my face.”

“How are you feeling right now?” Mac asked him.

[macxpackard]

viola-zephyr​:

.

“Brothers are idiots,” Viola said. She’d seen Mac earlier and had wondered how he was keeping his composure, and now she could see that he’d lost it. She didn’t make her statement in judgement, but stated it as a fact. Brothers were idiots with a death wish, and Viola knew that better than most. 

She leaned against the door frame carefully. She wasn’t as friendly with the younger tributes, didn’t know Mac well. But he was clearly hurting, and she would be there for him if he needed someone right now. Victors had to stick together, after all.

Mac looked at the other mentor and let out a sigh. She definitely wasn’t lying about that. “Do you have any brothers?” Mac asked her, curiously. If he was honest, he didn’t now much about Viola and was curious if she had ever went through anything like this. “All I have ever done was try to protect my siblings and this is the stunt he pulls. It’s unbelievable.”

[macxpackard]

willcassidy​:

Will thought the walls in the tribute tower would’ve been thicker. It wasn’t a nitpick; if the walls had been any more soundproof, he probably wouldn’t have found his brother till after the tribute parade. They hadn’t spoken to each other the entire ride to the Capitol. Well…Cassidy had started to say something (what, he couldn’t remember,) and Mac had no sooner stood up and *walked* out of the shared train car, slamming the door shut on the way out. Needless to say, Cas didn’t follow him. His eyes only flickered between his shaky, empty hands and the reapings on the flatscreen mounted on the cherry wood paneling.

He stood in place after the loud thud, pressing his ear to the door and his hand to the door handle, only to hear his brother scream: “fuck!” William winced, drawing his eyebrows together as his blue eyes found the grey carpet underneath him. His face, stained dark red. He wasn’t ashamed of what he’d done. Will hadn’t thought twice about it either, even in the tense silence of the train ride. If Mac could volunteer for their brother, he could volunteer for someone he saw as a sister. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t scared or that he wanted to hurt Mac. He didn’t have time to think like that when he heard her name called. 

Cassidy swallowed a lump in his throat as he pushed the door open. He wasn’t prepared when they finally came face to face. He couldn’t think of the last time he saw Mac like this. “…stop fucking avoiding me.” His voice was too soft to be confrontational, and his harmlessness was only driven home when his voice cracked mid-sentence. If anything, it was a plea. ‘I can’t do this alone.’

Mac looked at the person who entered the room and was about to apologize for his outburst. But, when he saw it was his brother, he couldn’t help but tense up. “You’re an idiot, William Cassidy Packard.” He told him, coldly. He sat down in the nearest chair and wiped at his nose, staring at his brother. The stare was in disbelief. Was his brother really here in the tower? Was he really going to go into the arena? He never ever thought he would ever see one of his siblings in the tower. He wanted them no where near the arena. That’s why he had volunteered for their other brother in the first place. 

“Don’t avoid you?” He asked him, jumping back out his seat and walked up to the younger brother. “Liam, I’m having a hard time looking at you, if I’m being honest.” And that hurt Mac to say. “Do you even realize what you have done? No, really, think about it. You volunteered to enter a death arena with twenty-seven other people.  People who have more experience than you, might I add.” He told him. “Not to fucking mention I am the only mentor for Three right now and I haven’t been able to get a tribute out of the bloodbath in ages. Now I have to suddenly figure it out because you’re going in there!” He raised his voice a bit. “So sorry for avoiding you but I really need to gather my fucking thoughts.”

[macxpackard]

Mac was angry. So unbelievably angry. Most would probably think he was angry at the Capitol but no, not this time. His anger was towards his younger brother. His brother who volunteered for some girl. Some girl who Mac had really hardly known and it still confused him as to why he had even volunteered for her.

Mac was alone in a viewing room of the tower, it was a great place to be since no one was really going in there at this point. Honestly, he was trying hard to avoid his brother because at this point, he felt all he was going to do was scream at him for doing something so stupid. “Fuck!” Mac yelled out, kicking over the chair next to him. Tears gathered in his eyes and his hands were shaking. How was he even going to gather his thoughts enough to mentor his brother? Then Mac heard someone walk in and he quickly wiped at his eyes.

[lastpetals]

@macxpackard​

“if you had to get a pet turtle, a pet cow, or adopt a baby…” she started, trailing off before she even finished the answer. “which one?”

[macxpackard]

“Hm... that’s a hard one...” Mac thought about his options as if his answer was really going to get him one of these things. “Maybe adopt a baby?” He told her even though he still wasn’t sure if that was the right answer.

[shark-bcit]

@macxpackard​

She looked over the menu at the bar, wrinkling her nose slightly in disgust. Everything either sounded too sweet or not sweet enough. She sat the menu down and looked to the nearest person before asking, “what would you recommend?” Though she wasn’t sure her own and Mac’s tastes would align anymore than her tastes and the menu did.

[macxpackard]

Mac looked at the girl and chuckled. He was almost sure what he enjoyed drinking was not something the girl would enjoy. “I’m boring.” He told the girl. “I just either go with plain beer. Or, if I need something harder, just some straight whisky.”

[huntedhunter]

“You know,” Hunter nearly cheered after Mac, getting his attention all of a sudden from his comfortable seat at the table, as he was sliding his card over the glass table, making lines with the nonchalance of someone who could do no wrong. His focus was entirely on the cocaine in front of him now, but he was definitely still talking to the District Three mentor. “Your people used to be so, much, better, prepared. Did they take self conservation out of the curriculum and just added more computer shit, instead?”

@macxpackard​

[macxpackard]

Mac was passing by tables when suddenly he had heard someone speaking. He looked around to see who else the other mentor may have been talking to and since no one was around, he figured it was him. He hesitated slightly but then sat at the table, sitting across from Hunter. He listened closely to what he had to say but couldn’t help but feel distracted as he stared at the powder on the table. Letting a sigh escape his lips, he fell back in his seat and shrugged his shoulders. “I couldn’t tell you.” Mac started, honestly. “I don’t understand what is happening but lately, none of my tributes have had any motivation to get out alive.” He told him.

[chip-foster]

@macxpackard​

Chip went to stand up from his chair and felt a little pang in his lower back, immediately letting out a grunt. He placed his hands on the table and managed to stand up fully. “I-I don’t r-recommend turning thirty,” he cautioned Mac.

[macxpackard]

Mac tapped his finger on the table and looked around when suddenly he looked at Chip who seemed to be in pain. He couldn’t help but laugh a little bit. Not because the pain itself was funny but because they really were getting old. “I still have four years, I am in the clear for now!” He laughed. “How is this possible? We are getting so old. And when I turn thirty, you’ll almost be halfway to forty.” He laughed again.

[georgia-plains]

Georgia took a sip of what was supposed to be a virgin cocktail, but the bitterness caught her a bit off-guard. She still wasn’t quite used to Capitol drinks, so she shoved it towards the person closest to her at the bar. “Is this alcoholic or not? I honestly can’t tell.”

[macxpackard]

“Um..” Mac looked at the drink and really tried to examine if it was virgin or not, as if he could tell just by looking at it. “Do you want me to try it so you’re sure?” He offered even though he was a little confused. “Why are you so worried? You want to get hammered?”

[macxpackard]

chip-foster​:

Charles rotated his wrist as he entered the room, playing up the pain and stiffness as he mimicked wincing. “Uh, my wrist is acting up,” he admitted. He’d been in a crash on a supply run shortly after he took up the job. Really, aside from some physical scars, his joints had healed. Occasionally, after a very long day, and a bad bit of weather, he would feel some aches. But for the most part, he made the pain up now. “Do you think there’s anything left in stores that could help?”

Mac remembered the crash that the man was that messed up his wrist. “Oh yeah, that is totally normal after an injury like yours. It could last for months.” He told him as he quickly pulled out the man’s file so that he can remind himself of the exact injury and timeframe. “Honestly, it wouldn’t hurt to keep it wrapped up in some sort of bandage or a brace. Even though your wrist healed great, it could very possibly still be healing and minimal movement could help it.” He explained. “Also, any sort of over the counter medicine. If that doesn’t help, though, a prescription drug may be needed.” 

[macxpackard]

alder-reid​:

.

Alder pursed his lips, suddenly feeling stupid. Of course it wasn’t going to be that easy, why the fuck had he thought he could wander in and just be offered a new job? He cleared his throat, dropping his pant leg into place. “Look, I– I’m going to level with you. I can’t do supply runs anymore. I just can’t. I’m not cut out for it and I’m going to go insane from stress if I do it much longer.”

“You can’t?” Mac asked him, eyebrows raised with compassion. “You’re not cut out for it physically or mentally?” He questioned as he sat down in the rolly chair nearby. “I’m sorry that you feel this way Alder, but there’s nothing I can really do about it. Unless you happen to fail a physical that deems you physically unable to do it, my hands are tied.” He told him honestly. Really, he felt for the guy. Being a supply runner sounds horrible and Mac knew he wouldn’t be able to handle it himself, but unfortunately that’s not how things ran around here.