#ah128

[hollandwestbrook]

Freedom was a strange look on Holland, particularly because her freedom was partial, and incomplete. Everyone looked at her, all the time. They watched her while she bought food, and clothes. They watched her while she walked down the street. She’d taken to wearing a hat and sunglasses, but these things didn’t help; everyone knew she was here, back in Six, back in the city, and some of them had even taken to understanding her daily routines. She didn’t think it was a coincidence that she sometimes saw the same people, again and again.

She’d asked Carol to come to Six to help her decorate her new house, the mansion she didn’t want to live in but had to. However, as soon as he’d gotten there, she’d whisked him away on the back of her father’s motorcycle, and they made the trip north to the town she’d lived in before she was Reaped.

She’d found the spare key and showed him the studio, untouched since the day of the Reaping. She showed him some of the animals she’d done herself and hadn’t wanted to get rid of, pieces she was proud of. Finally, she dragged him out back, into the little house that sat on the back of the property, in which she’d lived before everything. This place, too, was unchanged. Her bed unmade. She dropped her backpack onto it and unzipped it, then held out a box to him. “You ever dyed anybody’s hair?”

@caroleyre​

[slateskylar]

“I should have probably gotten you a ‘sorry about your trial’ gift but... things have been a little busy for me.” Slate sat down across from Carol at a mid-priced lunch spot that wasn’t too far from the Tower. Between working for Lysander and getting shit off the ground with Moxie, he really had been busy. He also didn’t know what to say to Carol. Sorry you had to give the ashes of your dead boyfriend back to his family didn’t really feel right.

@caroleyre​

[alder-reid]

“Mav, have you seen my blue hoodie?” he called to Maverick, entering their bedroom with a small frown. They were supposed to be packing to go visit Olive in the Capitol for the opening of her gym, but he was admittedly struggling to stay on-task and had ended up on a highly hyperfocused mission to find his hoodie. 

He turned to the closet, a small, but functional walk-in that remained in a state of disarray most of the time. To his surprise, he found Maverick sitting on the floor in there, back turned to him. It took him a moment to process, but next to him were some of the boxes he never opened-- things from home, things from his Games. “Mav?” he asked again, wary of what he might have found.

@maverickmontana​

[georgia-plains]

Georgia was checking out the Tower, wanting to be sure she knew where everything was before the next Games started. She didn’t want to end up looking like an idiot in front of her tributes, after all. She had just gotten done poking her into the tribute cafeteria when she ran into Seraphina. She recognized her, though she looked older than the last photos she’d seen of the Victor. It had been what, two years now? As far as she knew, Seraphina hadn’t taken up a mentor job.

“Oh hey,” she said. “Sorry, I’m a little surprised to see you.”

@seraphinahilt​

[moxiepitlocks]

“Where do you wanna go next?” Moxie asked, swinging the shopping bag in her hand, giving Lara a light tap on her shoulder. It was all about making things up – Lara hadn’t overstepped this time, it was all Moxie not letting her in enough. If she wanted people to be in her life, she needed to tell them what was going on in her life even if they weren’t the most pleasant things. Moxie wasn’t going to let that bog her down, though. She was shopping with Lara like they were teenagers again, falling into a familiar rhythm she had to admit she missed.

@laradanbur​

[everettlance]

Cade had arrived the night before, and everything had shifted. The house was usually empty and quiet; Everett took to playing music, cooking, leaving the TV on at all times, just to fill it with some noise. Now, though, there was another person there, and that person was Cade.

In a way he was surprised Cade had come here, of all places. Was he a last resort, or was he a stable option? Had Cade wanted to come or had he simply had no better option?

The next morning, he was scrambling some eggs in a pan, the radio murmuring beside him on low volume, when Cade descended the stairs. “Morning, sleepyhead,” he said with a glance behind him.

@cadebentley​

[hollandwestbrook]

The only two times Holland ever saw anyone but the guards were rec hour, when she was allowed out into the yard with the other prisoners, and visiting days. Just about anyone who wanted to visit her was allowed, and a lot of time when she stepped into the visiting room, she was greeted with her lawyers, her mother, or reporters.

This time, though, she brightened just to see that it was none of those, and she took a seat at the table, waiting for the other person to speak first.

@auri-cartwright​ @viola-zephyr​ @leanderwinter​ @plutodosimetre​ @alder-reid​

[moxiepitlocks]

Visiting Hestia was always something that brought joy to Moxie; the hustle and bustle of the household in Twelve had engrained endearment deep into her heart. Given how Hestia was much further along than she was, and how grueling she knew the train ride could be, Moxie was more than willing to go out there – she had gifts to give her and she loved how beautiful Twelve looked in November. Especially when it was before the Reaping – everyone seemed to be a little lighter, anticipating Hearth Day and forgetting about the Games for a moment. 

Carrying two small bags, one for her own belongings and one full of gifts for Hestia, wearing clothes that wouldn’t label her immediately as a Capitolite, Moxie made her way toward Hestia’s home, no longer needing to be picked up at the station. She gave a quick knock on the door and bounced on her toes a little, excited to see her friend. The door opened, her face brightened and she greeted, “I’ve missed you!”

@hestiaember​