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Post by Jorn Oxen on Jul 23, 2014 12:38:39 GMT -6
Ox walked into the hotel and was not surprised. How could he possibly be surprised that his room and living space were so outrageously lavish after seeing so much of the capitol? Where everyone was a flamboyant color and bedecked with jewels and other rarities that could feed half his district for years. He felt sick to his stomach, he had gorged himself on the foods that were aboard his train and had never had so much to eat in his life, he felt his strength growing.
"This place..." He muttered as he looked about. There was no one there yet besides him and he felt uneasy knowing that as empty as the suite was, he was not truly alone. Even now he was under watch, the games had begun as soon as his name was called and he had to keep his front up. Heavy, silent strength to gain sponsors early on, and dark masked cunning for once he reached the arena.
Ox hadn't seen much of his district partner on the train, he preferred to keep his space at first but he was beginning to realize that their cooperation would be more than necessary to impress sponsors. Grinding his teeth Ox marched into his room and sat on the bed and waited in silence for his coach, stylist and the girl he would be placing his survival upon...
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Post by Alicia Swather on Jul 23, 2014 23:18:02 GMT -6
Alicia entered the suite an hour later after hiding in the train's bathroom. Her face was no longer wet with tears. The stylists bothered to freshen her up for the short walk from the train to the hotel.
"Everyone's watching! We must always look our best!" her stylist Gwenivere had said much too brightly.
The hotel room was dark and painfully quiet. The only light that was on was in the bedroom. Alicia made for the couch, but before she could throw herself onto it, Gwenivere caught her by the shoulders and pushed her toward the bedroom. "Go say hello!"
Against her will Alicia propped herself in Jorn's doorway and crossed her arms.
"Hi," she croaked.
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Post by Jorn Oxen on Jul 24, 2014 5:45:40 GMT -6
Ox looked up at the girl who had entered his room and knew her. She had been the one who was chosen second, because something had been wrong with the drawing. He had not been paying enough attention during the drawing, but he knew from his cousins and from school that she had a younger brother. From the sound of things, she had not had a pleasant ride up.
Ox lifted himself from the bed slowly and approached her in the doorway with light steps, stopping a few inches from her and looked for her eyes. His eyes a soft brown stared in search of hers and his voice spoke softly, like a distant thunder.
"I am sorry... you do not deserve this." he spoke slowly and gently. "My name is Jorn Oxen. You can call me Ox." He extended a massive hand towards her, offering it.
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Post by Alicia Swather on Jul 24, 2014 10:20:38 GMT -6
Alicia was taken aback. She had only seen Jorn from a distance on stage, but now that he stood inches away from her she realized how massive and mature he looked. Could he really be a teenager? Why was he standing so close? She felt intimidated, but his voice was so calming.
“Alicia… or Ali,” she sputtered in a broken post-crying voice. She slowly took his hand. She paused, and asked a little too curtly, “My god, how OLD are you?” She laughed a little bit at her own candidness.
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Post by Jorn Oxen on Jul 24, 2014 10:48:10 GMT -6
Ox was taken aback at first but then broke out in a wide grin. "I am sixteen, although I understand why you might think otherwise." he mused.
"So Ali, we don't have much time before we must put ourselves before the people and be presented as prizes for slaughter. Do you have any ideas?" Ox sat back down on the bed, it creaked under his weight.
"We might as well play the part until they have given us what we need. I would rather that one of us makes it through these games, I know my family could use it..." Ox thought back to his cousins and his Uncle.
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Post by Alicia Swather on Jul 24, 2014 12:51:20 GMT -6
Alicia was suprised to find that man, the boy rather, was two years her minor. He seemed confident, ready, determined, and all of the things Alicia was incapable of feeling right now. But Jorn seemed to be counting on her. She took a deep breath.
“I need a cigarette,” she said finally. “Where do you think I can swipe one?”
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Post by Jorn Oxen on Jul 24, 2014 17:29:18 GMT -6
Ox shrugged, he had never had a cigarette in his life, but he didn't mind starting the habit now, odds are that it wouldn't stick for very long. He walked over to a screen by his bed and a board of hundreds of tiny buttons popped out of the wall.
Looking over each of them he finally found what looked to be the right button and down through a tube dropped a single cigarette. Ox hit the button once more and he found another button for a light and walked over to Alicia.
"Here Ali." He said holding it out to her. He lit hers first for her and then went to light his own and awkwardly puffed. After one or two he began coughing until he doubled over and then ran to the bathroom nearby to spit into the sink.
After a minute or so having recovered himself, Ox whined. "Does the taste ever go away? All I taste is cigarette."
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Post by Alicia Swather on Jul 24, 2014 20:08:00 GMT -6
Alicia laughed. She was actually enjoying the moment watching Ox try his first cigarette. She took a long pull from hers. It had a strong flowery aroma. She looked at it with surprise.
"Is this what a cigarette is supposed to taste like? The ones we roll back home just taste like dirt. I think I could get used to this."
Whatever the Capitol infused in the tobacco seemed to help clear her mind.
"So now you know how I do it," she said flicking her cigarette into an ash tray. "How do you keep from going insane?"
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Post by Jorn Oxen on Jul 24, 2014 20:26:08 GMT -6
Ox raised an eyebrow and then walked over to the machine again and ordered what looked like a bowl of cream of wheat, but it tasted sweet, with some kind of brown sugar mixed in that he never could have afforded back home.
"I just work. I pulled a big plow back home in the fields, that's why everybody just calls me Ox." He found himself missing home already as odd as that sounded, but this foreign alien world was a bit overwhelming and he missed the simplicity of his life before the reaping.
"You have family back home?" Ox asked, already knowing what she might say. Something about her little brother he supposed.
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Post by Alicia Swather on Jul 24, 2014 23:29:56 GMT -6
"I guess so. Everyone's got one, right?"
There was a pause after her short answer. She was supposed to ask Ox about his, but she didn't.
"Doesn't really matter anymore does it? We've got to make new families now."
She lit another cigarette.
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Post by Jorn Oxen on Jul 27, 2014 11:04:46 GMT -6
Ox watched Ali light another cigarette and thought about lighting another himself, but he thought back to his hacking and coughing and reasoned better about it.
"That's very true..." Ox said, but he never had to eventually kill one of his family members in a desperate attempt to survive.
Still he liked Ali, and he wanted all the help he could get.
"So what do you say? partners?"
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Post by Alicia Swather on Jul 27, 2014 23:12:34 GMT -6
Alicia considered Ox's offer. He was by far the most impressive physical specimen in the competition. The way he had picked her up on the chariot and held her in the air was incredible. Not to mention it was the first time she felt a rush of excitement about the Games. Alicia would need someone like Ox to keep her enthusiastic.
"Sure," she said, not wanting to sound too eager. "So, partner, what are you planning on training for during the skill days? Should we try to round ourselves out or show off our strengths? Maybe we can get enough points to catch up with those Schuhmachers."
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