Chapter Text
“No, no. Just you. Just you.”
Reaper held his breath as Lamina and Treech both stilled at Coral's words as if they couldn't believe what she had said. It was odd but nevertheless somewhat expected. Lamina and Treech were close, having stuck by each other since they arrived in the Capitol, but just how close well Reaper couldn't say. But their care for one another was obvious, what with how easily they were willing to defend each other from Marcus. His eyes drifted towards the boy from two and noted just how pale he become. If Lamina joined the Pack then...
Reaper doesn't wish to think of what would happen in the Arena. He notes how Lamina clenches her jaw and her stiff posture, whereas Treech himself paled, dark eyes wide as they turned to his friend in wait for what she would do. The red-haired girl didn't seem surprised by Coral's rejection of Treech, she knew just like everyone else that Coral hadn't called out for him. Still, there was something odd about Lamina's stance, almost relieved. That couldn't be right surely... she had defended her friend against Marcus, so she clearly cared for him enough to do so, but would she be willing to risk her life for Treech?
The answer to his question came when Lamina slowly began to move towards the alliance.
It was as if she hadn't even realized she had begun to move, her steps were quick yet measured. A shaky breath leaves him as he realizes that no, Lamina would not risk herself for Treech. She couldn't. There was some small part of him that wanted to scream at her, to question why she would so callously abandon her friend. He doesn't however. Not even when the whispers of others fill his ears as they all watch the girl from Seven. It's not his place—he knows this—still, he notes that Treech didn't seem all that surprised by her choice.
Resigned? Yes.
Hurt? Most definitely.
But Treech had expected it.
He expected Lamina to leave when the offer had been made and perhaps that made it all worse. He doesn't know the history of the pair but he can't help but question just why Lamina had done away with him so quickly. As if Treech were little more than an inconvenience than her friend, and from the looks of things then Treech's mentor took her betrayal harder than he had. Though whether it was due to Lamina's invite to the Pack ahead of Treech or geniune care for the boy from Seven Reaper wasn't sure.
Admittedly, Reaper wasn’t that surprised by Coral or Mizzen's reaction; that smug look on the would-be leader’s face, whereas Mizzen grinned clearly just as pleased. Tanner's reaction... truly, Reaper didn't know what to make of it, everyone knew just how irritated the boy from ten had been by Lamina's tears. So the fact he looked so interested in this turn of events surprised Reaper. Tanner had loudly voiced his opinions on Lamina whilst they were still on the train and yet, unlike Marcus, he had come out unscathed by the girl's fury.
Perhaps it was because his fury was only on her and not Treech.
Which made her abandonment of him seem all the more cruel—she had defended him, had shielded him as he had her, and in the end, what did that get Treech? Abandonment by the one he trusted most.
“Glad to know you made the right decision, Lumberjack though I gotta admit I was expecting you to insist on your boyfriend.”
There was a strange lilt to Coral's voice that sounded eeriely like delight as she shot Treech a sharp smile, almost as if she wished to rub in his face what Lamina had done. For his part Treech hadn't so much as flinch at Coral's words. Reaper watched as Tanner smirked at Coral's comment as his gaze remained fixed on Lamina, “I highly doubt they’re dating anymore now… Not with how easily she cut him loose.”
Lamina flinched at the boy's sharp words but remained quiet. Anxiously, she cast a look at her mentor who seemed to finally make his way towards her, whilst the other mentors whispered between one another though occasionally they did glance in Lamina’s direction. Whereas Coral's eyes remained sharp as they took in the other red-head's every feature, almost as if she were trying to reassess her. Lamina straightened her stance under the other's gaze, as if she tried to appear brave or even confident by what she had just done.
Perhaps... she was already beginning to regret her decision.
If so, she likely already knew it was too late to reconsider.
It would only serve to put a target on both of their backs. So no, Reaper couldn't judge Lamina all that much when it came to her choice. She, like the rest of them wanted to go home—just as much as she wanted to protect Treech; and she couldn’t possibly do both, no matter how much she wanted to. She had to put herself first, had to do the unthinkable, and leave the only person she knew to do so.
It would perhaps strengthen her odds of going home. Maybe there was somebody back home she desperately wished to see again, it hadn't really mattered regardless. What did matter was what her choice meant for the rest of them.
Because if Lamina could betray the one person who had been at her side throughout this ordeal, who had comforted her through her tears just for a chance at better odds then why couldn't anyone else?
For a moment Reaper just stares at what used to be the pair from Seven, Treech with his dark eyes filled with tears, whose whole body practically trembled as he realized just what had happened. His hat clutched tightly in his hands as he squared his shoulders, he was trying to look strong despite the devastating blow dealt, it could have been something Reaper admired in him… Though it also looked as if the slightest touch would cause the boy to crumble.
At Lamina whose usually doe green eyes remain sharp, almost calculating, as she stares at the rest of them. Her body is stiff, nails digging into the denim of her jeans and she is pale, almost ghostly looking as if every part of her were screaming out in protest. Still, she doesn't waver—doesn't look Treech's way, perhaps if she does then she knows she'll well and truly crumble. Reaper pities her somewhat, she had been caught in between a rock and a hard place—forced to choose between her friend and her survival. And only now did she find herself facing the ramifications of what she had done.
Reaper knows that there was no winning this, not for Seven, not for anyone.
The ground beneath them trembles, as Reaper glanced up to see the sky explode above him. Pain flooded him as screams filled his ears as dust blurred his vision. He wouldn't die here. He couldn't, not until he knew Dill was safe, his little sister by choice who he promised his Ma he'd care for. What kind of brother would he be if he left her to die? He doesn’t care for anything else—the other kids aren’t his responsibility even if his heart aches at the thought of them being hurt. Still, he runs in search of Dill and her mentor, he doesn't care if the Peacekeepers killed him in the process.
Lamina isn't half as delicate as she appears.
Tanner isn't too sure what to make of it; the change was... welcome? Or the Fours seemed to welcome it, whilst the blonde from Ten wasn't half as certain what to make of her. He had all but dismissed her when he first met her in the train car; thinking her too much of a weakling to really bother to pay her much mind. Fragile, like a flower and breakable like glass. He'd pitied her, this pretty girl who knew nothing of suffering, whose entire world just collapsed because of a slip of paper. His throat tightened as he eyed the girl uncomfortably, seeing her rip herself out of the peacekeepers grip and snap that yes, she was in fact capable of walking was... weird. Tanner had no other word for it really.
She was like an entirely different person.
Sharp like knives he dealt with back in Ten and seemingly just as deadly. Part of him wants to watch her continue with her little performance, but the more emotional side of him wants her safe. She's his ally after all; it wouldn't do well if she got herself killed before the Games even began.
(Memories of Brandy's too still body still filter through his mind when he looks at the redhead.
The same rage, the same hunger that would kill her if she wasn't careful. Tanner wants nothing more than her to be the delicate girl he first glimpsed; the quiet thing who watched them warily, she'd be safer that way. Easier for him to manage and look after like Mizzen, he didn't want to deal with another Coral.
She isn't.
Hasn't been since Marcus pissed her off.)
Coral intervened before he could. Some sort of gesture he can't quite see, whatever it is it gets Lamina to back down. To coil in herself and for a moment he sees the quiet, watchful crybaby. He swallowed his stomach churning as he exhaled shakily. He has no clue what changed with the girl, but he hates it, it’s wrong and he wants nothing more than for her to revert back to how she was before Marcus made his stupid mistake.
He barely remembers the trek back to the Zoo, only the sounds of his ma’s tongue being quietly whispered. The voice is delicate, and calming, his body trembles less now. The tension easing under the soft words, he doesn’t recognize it, but when he strains his head just enough he thinks he can make out the gist of the melody; a murder song, something about a vengeful wife hacking her husband to death with an axe then fleeing into the woods with her lover.
“You alright there?” Lamina’s sharp voice catches him off guard, dark eyes filled with bemusement as she leaned against the bars with a nonchalance he’d never associate with the girl. He wrinkled his nose, she’s… well she’s something else.
“M’fine,” He grumbled out as the Fours chattered together eagerly. The two know one another that much is obvious, which meant he and the little crybaby were the outliers in the alliance, they’d have to depend on each other if the two turned on them.
“Uh huh, sure you are huckleberry.” He blinked at the nickname, it was an improvement from ‘slaughterhouse’ as the Fours so eloquently called him but still odd.
“Huckleberry?” He asked, raising a brow as the girl shrugged casually.
“Slaughterhouse is for the Fours, figure I’d need something to call you.”
“You could just call me my name?” Tanner commented dryly as the girl snorts, as Tanner blinked in surprise. He’s never heard her laugh before, hell he hadn’t thought her capable of it in all honesty.
A smirk tugged at her fair countenance as she rolled her dark eyes, her eyes never once drift towards her stunned district partner. Perhaps if she does she’ll break down crying again. Whatever, it’s not like Tanner cared, he’s still struggling to wrap his head around the fact that she managed to turn the situation around into her favor. How vicious she looked, eyeing Marcus with such rage and disdain he felt as if he couldn’t breathe. Lamina really didn't seem like the type to enjoy violence even if she was capable of it.
Or well, he assumed she wasn’t.
Now though, watching how easily she spoke and joked and flourished with the Fours. As if she belonged more with them than with her district partner. Something shifted, settled in his chest as he watched her; Treech was gentle with her, trying and failing to keep her calm and soothe her tears. It hadn’t worked. No, what ceased her damned whining was violence, like a coyote hungering for scraps.
“So…” Coral drawled eyeing Lamina in something like amusement. “What’s the story between you and him? Your boyfriend gonna hold you back-”
“Boyfriend?” Lamina tested the word on her tongue and tilts her head. Like a confused kitten, Tanner muffled a chuckle as he watched his newfound ally. She was entertaining, admittedly. “We… we weren’t dating.” She mumbled glancing away, her face stained pink and he thinks he can spot either shame or guilt in her eyes.
“Oh?” Coral leaned forward a sweet, sacchirine smile on her face. (Tanner shivered at it, Coral’s smile was wrong.) Lamina shrugged off her words and lifted her chin, defiant and fierce. “Such a shame…”
“Is it?” Lamina challenged. “If he were, he’d likely make me lose focus here which I doubt you’d want. So if anything, it’s better for this alliance don’t you think?”
She… she had a point.
Her and Treech being friends did complicate things, yes, but it was much better than them being involved in a romantic sense. Meant that when things came down to it she more than likely had the guts to kill him, the boy clearly didn’t for her; Tanner had seen how Treech looked at her, like she hung the moon with those delicate hands of hers.
The boy from Seven would hesitate when it came to his district partner, and it seemed the girl knew that.
“Good.” Coral says instead of another scathing comment. Mizzen is buzzing with excitement as he stares at Lamina, he’d been looking at her like this since she and Marcus had their little showdown. He can practically see him ready to blurt out questions to ask the other redhead, his elder sister could only reign him so much after all.
Tanner isn’t too sure if Lamina would entertain him or not.
“What’s your family like back home?”
Mizzen’s voice was eager as he looked at Lamina starry-eyed in wait, Coral at his side looked amused as Tanner watched the girl with curiosity. She seemed to coil in herself at the question as if uncomfortable by the mention of Seven.
“I- uh don’t have a family…” She mumbled glancing away from them. Tanner blinked, he- What? What the hell did she mean she didn’t have a family? Had they died in the war, was she some sort of orphan, and if so, how the fuck did she afford her clothes.
She answered his question before he could voice it, “I- I ran away from home at twelve? I’m not too sure if they know I’m even alive given everything-”
“They saw you walk up on that stage didn’t they?” Coral asked, raising an eyebrow as Lamina grimaced and shook her head.
“I’m- I’m not from Seven? Or at least not originally, I hitchhiked there like one- two? Years ago, with a friend of mine.” The way she said friend is odd, like she wanted to say another word but didn’t know what to call them. “Before that I mostly got by with theft and um- other means.”
Okay?
Odd, and certainly unexpected, Seven’s girl wasn’t originally from Seven. She was a sorta refugee, someone who they corralled into the district like he did cows back home. Now that he was thinking on it more he guessed it made sense, she and Treech didn’t seem to have the same mannerisms after all, she was formal; polite and sweet, likely raised in luxury.
Treech obviously wasn’t.
“Why’d you run away?” Mizzen asked as Coral bristled, the girl just shrugged easily enough. She seemed rather amused by his eagerness.
“Me and my family didn’t get on, I refused to have anything to do with them. Made sure I skipped town long before they could try and fixture me up into place anyway. ‘Course that meant I had to do a lot of changing but yeah, it’s fine for the most part.”
Mizzen frowned at the answer, “Oh, what’d they do that was so bad?”
“District traitors.” She said much too bluntly. Like it was nothing, Tanner’s nails dig into his palms. He had no idea who this girl was or what she was like. He wanted to know though, to peel back the layers and pick her pretty little brain.
Coral cleared her throat uncomfortably, “Where you originally from anyway, Lumberjack?”
“Ten.” She whispered. “I was born and raised there till I was roughly fourteen? Fifteen? It’s somewhat hazy now.”
Had he known her? Had they met before and he forgot about her, he wracked his brain and nothing came. Not a sight, not a sound. Nothing. Perhaps she and him didn’t go to the same school? Perhaps, she only worked.
“Another slaughterhouse brat who doubles as a lumberjack?” Coral asked amused, as if she found some sort of treasure, as if Lamina could replace Brandy in some fucked up way. She doesn’t.
She won’t.
Tanner’s certain of that, calloused palms or no, nobody could replace Brandy. Not that he knew her all that well, they ran in different circles. He worked, Brandy hadn’t; his family didn’t need the money, not really, given they were better off than most in Ten. But yeah, he supposed it made some sense?
He doesn’t dare question if her name’s her name, that’s not his business and he wonders if the Fours would grill her more. Ask her for more details, Tanner doesn’t pay it anymore attention. Her hair unbound, auburn curls falling loose over her shoulder, no longer held back; it was funny really how one of the first things she had done when she joined her alliance was to get rid of that loose scrap of fabric—he had seen her little boyfriend clutching it earlier after their informative tour of the Arena. Perhaps she gave it to him when they were under, a final signal that whatever was going on between them was over.
Or whatever stupid sentimental gesture she actually meant; truly Tanner didn’t know nor did he particularly care about her relationship with him.
As long as this girl didn’t get him killed he’d be fine.
Yeah, he didn’t care otherwise.