josiah really must attract people who take pleasure in calling him out on his bullshit - apparently that was a role ingrid was far too keen to take on. honestly, if anyone else had told him to stop or, god forbid, actually hit him chest he would have lashed out. but, apparently he had missed that dynamic more than he liked to admit - and then decided to chalk it up to not wanting to ruin whatever semblance of fun he was hoping to have tonight.
“if anyone says the word neat one more time, i might actually lose my damn mind.” and then the roller-skate boy proceeded to do just that. draining what was left of the bottle that had sadly already been mostly empty when he picked it up, josiah had to truly hold himself back from smashing it against the concrete wall and using it as a makeshift weapon. after a rattle deep breath, josiah continued. “you’re right, they really don’t get a chance to breathe, huh?”
josiah truly and honestly couldn’t believe the boy in front of him - he’d spent plenty of time with people who dealt with their problems using drugs and alcohol (he had been heading down that path himself in the past year) but he really didn’t expect to see it in the capitol. “well, royce carter the whatever, i sure don’t have a problem with you getting back to whatever vice it is that has you so completely fucked up. but, she might,” josiah waved the empty bottle in ingrid’s direction, the two of them standing quite close on the rooftop since she decided to hit him in the chest.
noticing royce’s scar, ingrid had to make a snap decision – should she bring it up or completely ignore it. quickly, the girl decided to not comment, the backstory could be too sad and feeling bad for other tributes wasn’t in anyone’s best interest. instead, she focused on the hops going up the boy’s ears. the fact that outlying districts had the technology for piercings came as a shock, or maybe they all just sat around in dirty kitchens and pierced each other with sewing needles. gross.
“oh he deserves our attention after all!” the hunger games really was a gays only event this year, and that couldn’t make her happier. “josiah he has so many ear piercings, he’s exactly your type,” she added, with a smile. the boy was clearly getting riled up, and although she knew better than to annoy him even further, the opportunity was just too good.
he wanted to wear that? maybe royce was worse than she thought, because that was true crackhead behavior. “it was ... different. people will remember it, i guess.” and her father always said that was of the upmost importance. “anyway, i’m ingrid,” she placed her hand on her chest, “and this is josiah. district two.” the boy shouldn’t drink their alcohol without knowing their names, at least.
“nah, i really don’t mind.” picking up their third bottle ( again, hygiene ), considering josiah’s was clearly empty, ingrid held it in front of herself for royce to grab. “here, just keep the disrespect behind close doors, don’t let them catch you.” the careers were held at a different kind of standards, and should behaved accordingly, but it wasn’t far-fetched that an outlier would want to mask their fear with alcohol and drugs. it still felt like a slight attack at the games and what they stood for, but as long as no one called him out on it. “you boys can share that bottle, keep your boy germs to yourselves.”
