Chapter Text
Friendship?: Sarah
“That leaves… uh… three groups left.” Sarah looks around the room to double-count - With us, that's… yep! Nine here, three to go. Shit, we’re not gonna have any time to talk before they start calling us in. “Should we send someone to check on them?”
“No.” Bashir shakes his head and sighs -“But they’re going to be the last ones here at this rate. Feels weird though. Coulomb’s beat us here every day so far. I never know what to expect with V but he’s been pretty consistent.”
“Maybe he actually got some sleep?” Sarah quickly whips around when she hears the doors open again but turns back when she sees it’s just the Capitol weirdos with their clipboards again. It’s like the fifth time they’ve come through, what are they even doing at this point? They just seem to walk through the oversized waiting room nodding back and forth to each other and scribbling things down, scowling at anyone who tries to talk to them. One of the guys hanging around the back of the group stares at her a little too long for comfort and she locks eyes with him, slowly raising her middle finger in a rude gesture. Yea, that’s right, stare harder! He scoffs loudly, spinning on his heels to follow the rest of the group through the room to the second set of doors on the other side. “You know what the best part of the Games is gonna be? I never have to look at another one of these glitter-covered muttfuckers again.”
“Only if you lose. If you win, you get the honor of letting them cover you in glitter once a year for mentor duties!” Bashir laughs; Sarah scowls at him - I hate glitter so much, I’m still pulling that shit out of my hair from the parade. “On the bright side, only a one in twenty-four chance of that happening - we’re probably safe from that fate.” He laughs again, too late, too forced - it’s the third time he’s brought up death this morning and pretended he was joking. He thinks he’s so slick about it but man… poor kid.
“Bash, buddy, you know we-”
He cuts her off - “Please don’t say it’s going to be fine again.” Sarah doesn’t push it. “I know you’re trying to make me feel better, but it just makes it worse.”
“Alright. Just… if you want to talk.” Sarah pats him on the shoulder and trails off - I never know how to end these conversations.
Bashir leans back in his seat and turns towards the doors again - “I know. Thanks.”
The two of them sit in silence for a few minutes - Ugh. Bored. Sarah picks up a pen from the side table by their couch and starts fiddling with it. Click-click-click-click. The ugly side eye Bashir gives her tells her that’s probably too much noise, so she switches to juggling it back and forth - Hey! I’m pretty good at this! Adding a second pen into the mix only makes her more confident. Her ally looks less annoyed, more mildly amused now. The third pen makes this much harder, but she manages to keep them all afloat until the doors swing open again and she drops the whole bunch onto the floor - oops. Oh hey! There they are! She steals a quick glance at a clock on the wall - 9:21, they’re gonna start calling us soon - but better late than never!
Coulomb walks in first, half-shuffling, bags under his eyes - still tired, poor kid. Do they just like… not sleep in Five? Both of them always look so wiped. She’s already waving him down before she registers the two people coming in behind him. Who’s the lady in the bathrobe? The woman walking arms-linked with Voltaea looks Capitol in almost every way - too symmetrical, too shifty, too sparkly - but she’s never seen anyone here walk around in their pajamas like this. Weird. The bathrobe lady stops them near the door, standing on her toes to whisper something in Voltaea’s ear that makes her face turn a bright, angry red before leaving as quickly as she came. Huh. Even weirder. Her ally’s gaze follows the woman out the door until it shuts again behind her, startling her back to the present.
The kid’s perky voice snaps her into the moment just after - she’d completely missed his approach. “Hey guys!” He plops down right in the middle of the large sofa, between Sarah and Bashir. “Are you nervous about your private sessions?”
Yea, of course! “Nah!” Sarah turns to him and grins from ear-to-ear. It’s the only way she’s been able to deal with her fear so far - beating it over the head with rejection instead. “What’s there to be nervous about? All I have to do is go in and whack a few dummies with an axe.” She mimes whacking someone in the head with her axe - sound effects included. Both the boys stare at her with raised eyebrows - she shrugs at them; “Maybe I’ll throw a few too, if I’m feeling fancy.”
“I wish I knew how to fight like you guys.” Coulomb says solemnly - Is everyone gonna just be sad today? This sucks.
“I don’t know how to fight - that’s all her.” Bashir gestures at Sarah. “I’m just gonna disappear into a corner somewhere and wait out my time when it’s my turn. I don’t think fifteen minutes is long enough for a good nap or I’d just do that.” She rolls her eyes at him - he’s better than that - but keeps her mouth shut to avoid setting him off on another nervous spiral.
“I lost almost every fight I got in yesterday, if it makes you feel any better.” Sarah jerks in surprise at the sound of Voltaea’s voice - Damn, I really gotta start paying attention! What’s Blight keep saying? ‘Situational awareness, Sarah’. And now I’ve got like… two days to practice that? Not doing great so far, I barely noticed Sparky coming over. I thought she was still staring at- oh yeah!
She jumps straight over her allies’ ongoing conversation that she’d tuned out of to ask - “What’s up with the bathrobe lady? I swear I’ve seen her somewhere before.”
Voltaea stops mid-sentence, looking at her with eyes wide and mouth agape. Coulomb answers before Sarah can figure out what’s so surprising about that question - “That’s Ms. Vox, she’s our mentor. I think she just likes to keep an eye on things, so she followed us down today.” Oh, yuck, I’m sorry.
Sarah knows exactly two things about Vox - that she’s on some Capitol TV show, and that her own mentor is absolutely terrified of her. She’d tried to ask him why when she was trying to get this alliance set up in the first place but all he’d tell her was that she had a ‘nasty reputation’ and that he didn’t want to end up as the next subject on her gossip show. That didn’t stop her from pushing for it anyways, but he’d dragged his feet and complained about it the whole way. Coulomb seemed to be scared of her too - though to be fair, he’s scared of all kinds of shit.
Voltaea looks rattled - and red. “I’m sorry she follows you guys around like that.” Sarah tries to console her very embarrassed-looking comrade but she just glows redder as the kid beside her squirms - Ah, shit. I’m making people feel worse again. Um… distraction! She pats the last open spot on the couch to try and get the other girl to sit - “Look, I can see that she has to suck to be around - so let’s talk about something fun and forget about it? I saw our favorite dumbass from One trying to make a move on-”
“She doesn’t suck.” Voltaea cuts her off and sits down on the couch. Her tone isn’t mean, but it is firm - Okay then, whatever you say buddy.
There’s a brief but awkward silence as they stare at each other before Coulomb breaks it by asking - “V, now that we’re down here - can I know what you’re doing in there today?”
Voltaea smiles - it’s that too-wide, slightly unhinged one that Sarah saw her wearing yesterday when the trainer brought out the mines for her. Oh yeah this’ll be a real sane plan then, I’m sure. There’s a nagging voice at the back of her mind that sometimes asks her if it was a good idea to choose an alliance based on who was willing to attack someone first, but she shoos it away as soon as it gets loud enough to hear. Way, way too late in the game now for those kinds of doubts. “I told you at breakfast, it’s a secret.”
“Oh come on!” Sarah has never heard the kid whine before and she has to choke back a laugh. Coulomb leans forward in his seat so he can look past her at Voltaea with the saddest, poutiest look he can muster on command - “You told Ms. Vox it was a secret to her but I’m your partner, don’t I get to know?”
“Nope.” She doesn’t even blink at the kid when she says it, just keeps her face locked in that spooky grin. “You never know who’s listening in a place like this.” Voltaea pauses for effect, then throws her head back and laughs before sinking back into the couch and relaxing with a loud sigh. “Sorry, I don’t mean to be dramatic. But I need to keep it to myself for now - I promise I’ll tell you as soon as I’ve done what I need to do, okay?”
Sarah can’t hold herself in anymore and butts back into the conversation - “Ok but, like - now I want to know why it’s so secret. I mean, I told everyone my plan!”
“I assume it was something along the lines of ‘hit things with an axe’.” Voltaea says dryly.
“Yeah, well. It’s not much of a secret that you’re probably making traps again.” Sarah snarks back.
Voltaea smirks - “Sure, but I’ve got something really big in mind.”
Sarah scoffs at her - “How big can you really get in fifteen minutes?”
“Hopefully big enough to stand out.” With that, Voltaea changes the subject - “But I’m done talking about training - that’s all we’ve done for days now. Let’s go back to the fun stuff again.” You were the one who interrupted, my friend.
Sarah pushes aside her momentary frustration to get back to the gossip at hand, and they spend an easy half hour going around on the couch whispering about some of the stranger things they’ve witnessed their fellow tributes doing. After running the numbers, they put together that the only tributes Marcelus hasn’t tried to flirt with at this point are the ones under 15. For a minute, she almost forgets that they’re in the Capitol and she isn’t just hanging around with an old group of friends from back home - at least until Voltaea stops them abruptly to point out that one of the clipboard-wielding staff members just came to pull out the girl from District Two for her session. This is it then, it’s started. “So they just get to leave after they’re done, then?” Bashir mumbles. “Must be nice, I wish I was from One. We just have to sit here half the day.” I’m ready to get this over with too.
“At least we’re not from Twelve.” Coulomb replies, looking over at the two scrawny-looking tributes from Twelve huddled with their allies, who had pulled a few couches and chairs together to form a tighter group earlier. “They have to sit here and watch everyone else go first, it must be terrible.” Sarah can’t look at them for more than a few seconds without feeling her chest clench at the thought of having to simmer in this room all day.
The dread that has sat coiled in her stomach since Reaping Day rears its ugly head again - Ugh, no, not now! Keep your shit together! Sarah starts talking to distract herself from it. “We should play a game or something, maybe it’ll make the day go quicker.”
Coulomb’s eyes light up at the idea - “I love games! Well. Um. When they’re not the Hunger Games, anyway. What were you thinking?”
Sarah hadn’t actually thought that far, she’d just said the first thing that popped into her head. Well, that’s on me. “I’m not sure, but give me a minute - I’ll think of something good!” Alright - games, games, games… what kind of games do I know? I wish we had cards. At least I know card games. Maybe we could-
Her train of thought derails when Bashir voices his suggestion - “We should try to guess who’s going to die first.”
Sarah would have smacked him a little for that if the kid hadn’t been sitting between them - “Oh come on, what the fuck, Bashir?” He shrugs “That’s way too grim. I meant like… Go Fish, or something.”
“My pick is Kito Spark, he's the boy from District Three.” Voltaea doesn’t miss a beat before talking straight past Sarah with an answer - she spins around to glare daggers at her but she keeps going - “Small, jumpy, low skill - only has his District partner for an ally. I’d say it’s a decent bet he goes first - definitely early if not.” How does she even remember all their names? Shit, I barely remember all of our names. Wait a second-
“Nope, stopping this right here. You guys are messed up.” Sarah raises a hand in either direction to her allies but neither listens-
“I’m going with the girl from Six. Every time I see her she’s coughing or half-asleep. I bet she’s sick - that has to be a disadvantage, right?” Bashir fires back with his own theory and Voltaea makes a hum of approval. Coulomb sits silently, eyes lowered, fidgeting with his hands.
Sarah raises her voice slightly - she hopes it’s still quiet enough the rest of the room won’t overhear - “Stop! Come on, you’re making the kid upset.”
“It’s me-” Coulomb says, choking through tears. His voice rises as he speaks - “I’m gonna be the first one to go, I know I am! I keep having dreams about it, it’s all I think about, I know it’s me!” Great, now everyone’s worked up!
Before she finds the right way to calm him, Bashir wraps the other boy into a hug and apologizes - “I’m sorry. This was stupid.” Coulomb nods, choked sobs subsiding slightly. “I keep thinking I’m going to be first, I just thought… I don’t know. If I had someone else in mind, I’d stop thinking about it.” Damn it, now I’m thinking about it too.
“I think maybe we should talk about literally anything other than death right now, if you guys want to keep your minds off of it.” Sarah can’t hide the exasperation in her voice - “Like, ok. Topics… topics… um… What’s the weirdest-looking person you’ve seen since we’ve been in the Capitol?”
This turns out to be a big enough topic - between stories of a snake-skinned stylist, a girl with four foot tall green hair, a man covered head to toe in shimmering purple ink, and a long tangent about how weird the fabric is in the Capitol, the conversation starts to flow freely again. It’s not until the clipboard crew comes for Voltaea that reality starts to sink back in. Oh gods, here we go.
The chatter between them falls dead immediately as Voltaea waves her goodbyes with a smile - “I’ll see you guys tomorrow! Good luck!” If she wasn’t watching closely, Sarah might have missed the moment where her smile drops like a stone halfway through turning around to leave - she’s not ready for this either, huh?
Silence looms over the group as Sarah watches the minutes tick down - no one is bothering to pretend now. First five… then ten… then fifteen… They’ll be coming for the kid any minute now, I think. Then Six. Then me. With a deep breath, she steels herself for the rest of the agonizing wait.
It’s twelve minutes past when the clipboard crew is supposed to return that she notices she’s not the only one starting to feel antsy. Coulomb drums on his legs, eyes shut, trying to hide the shaking in his bottom lip by biting down on it. Bashir works through cracking what seems like every joint in his body, making the poor kid next to him flinch with every sharp pop they make. What’s taking them so long? Everything has been on time so far, what’s going on now?
“Do you think something happened to V in there? Is that why they haven’t come for me?” Coulomb’s soft voice snaps her out of her thoughts.
She wants to say something comforting, but all that she manages is her actual thoughts; “Maybe, but who knows?”. All she knows is it’s now fifteen minutes past when they were supposed to come back for the kid and some of the others seem to be taking notice if the increasingly frequent glances at the clock are any indicator. I mean, shit, did she light someone on fire again? What’s taking so long?
The boy hangs his head - “I wish I could have talked to her more last night, but she’s always staying over in Ms. Vox’s room so I never see her.”
It takes Sarah a second to process what he said in full and even then she’s not quite sure she heard him right - “Wait, what do you mean she’s staying over in her room? Like overnight?”
“They said they were having strategy meetings, but she goes in after training and comes out at breakfast.” Coulomb says bluntly. “Mr. Orville keeps telling me to stop asking questions about it, but I wish I knew what they were talking about in there.”
That gets a laugh out of Sarah, much as she tries to keep a straight face - I wouldn’t want to answer those questions for you either, little buddy. Not for a couple years at least. The earlier interaction she saw between the two of them seems much clearer now, with this context - I mean… she’s kinda old, I think? But… you do you, Sparky. Or her. Whatever makes you happy. Hah- Shit! Focus! Kid upset, find words. She pulls herself together enough to mumble a brief - “Sorry, not you, just thought of something funny…” that only convinces Coulomb if the wide-eyed look she’s getting from Bashir is any indicator. She mouths ‘minding our business’ and gestures back and forth between them over the kid’s head so he doesn’t catch on. “Anyway, I’m sure they have… um… some very important strategies to discuss while they’re in there.” She clears her throat, stifling the urge to laugh again - “But I’m sorry she keeps ditching you, buddy, that’s not cool.”
“Maybe I should have just asked to join their meetings. I guess I was too nervous to push it.” I don’t think you want to join whatever meetings they’re having there, bud. “And I don’t like that they drink so much together. I’ve seen Mr. Orville bring a lot of bottles over from the bar and I think that might be why she got sick ye-”
Before Coulomb can finish his sentence another voice booms out over the room - “Alright tributes! We’ve had a brief delay but we’re just about ready to get started again-” Sarah looks back at the clock one last time - brief my ass, that was twenty-two minutes! “- and I need all of your cooperation to get things moving as quickly as possible. So if you don’t mind, I’ll have the next tribute to go come and line up here by the door as soon as the previous one is called. We’ll start by asking Coulomb Vexel of District Five to come with us - Sixes can line up to go next.”
Coulomb stands and waves a nervous goodbye before following the intruder out of the room, leaving Sarah and Bashir waiting by themselves once again. He breaks the silence first - “Can I say something without you taking it the wrong way?”
Probably not, if I know myself. “What is it?” She looks over at him and he averts his eyes, shifting in his seat uncomfortably.
“I think…” He stops for a moment and breathes in deep through his nose - “I think you might have picked us someone unstable to team up with and I’m worried how we’re going to handle that if things go badly in there.” Bashir has taken the quiet whisper at the back of her mind and spoken it out loud, where it can’t be tucked away and ignored. Damn. “I mean, I hope I’m wrong. It’s just some of the stuff Coulomb mentioned today about her… and some of the stuff we’ve seen… especially yesterday.” He glances back at her, looking for a reaction - man I have no idea how to feel about this yet, you’ll have to wait a second. Instead of waiting, he keeps talking as if it’ll help her think faster - “And today, with that delay? Tell me you don’t think that was weird timing with her being the one in there, not telling us what she’s going to do…” he trails off.
Nothing he’s said so far is wrong - but shit, I like the two of them. And the kid did nothing wrong. And we need the extra hands… “We can’t just ditch them, we won’t have any help.” Sarah recalls that manic grin she’s seen twice now on Voltaea’s face that unsettles her so much - “Maybe we should have our own warning signal. If we feel like we might need to slip away once we’re in the arena, we flash the signal, and we go as soon as the coast is clear.” She pauses, adding - “Not that I think we’ll need it, this is just in case, you know?”
Bashir is quiet for a long, uncomfortable moment before he asks: “Do we tell Coulomb about it? He’s been nothing but good to us so far.”
He’s also not wrong on that point - the kid has been the one to keep them working together smoothly anytime things get off track. But then Sparky blows him off every night to go drink with her new girlfriend and he’s still asking if she’s okay, shit. I feel bad, but - “I hate to say it, but I don’t think he’d leave even if we did. They know each other from before - like cousins or something, remember?” She in fact, could not remember what Coulomb had told them the first day they’d met about how he knew Voltaea from back home - but that sounded close enough. “Or. Whatever they are - they know each other a lot better than they know us. He’s not gonna trust us over her - we’re better off keeping this between us and hoping it doesn’t come down to that.”
Bashir nods - “So we agree to put each above our allies, then?”
“It sounds kind of bad when you say it like that, but yeah. Basically.” She chases away the lingering thought of guilt that creeps in when she says it out loud - it’s to keep us alive, not to be mean. “I don’t want to end up in a situation where Sparky loses it and blows us up, that’s all.”
Bashir stares down at the floor for a long minute before mumbling - “I don’t either.”