Kicking Rocks... (Ninon, open)

[Orion]

Orion walked the lonely roads of District Six, hands in pockets. It was a lonely afternoon, and his day off at the lab. He never had anything to do on Sunday, his sister studying for school and his parents working. He had offered to work, but they insisted that he take the day off. Especially after working every day for three weeks straight. He didn't mind, though.

Orion loved the Labs. They were his favorite place, his happy place. Many of the scientists hated the Labs, but Orion couldn't imagine why. They were his heaven. He loved the smell of sanitation and the feel of latex gloves on his hands. Sure, it was weird, bordering on obsessive, but it was what he knew. His home. The place that he belonged.

Orion was using his telekinesis to toss around a rock. Sure it was tiring, but Orion was only letting it get a yeard and a half away at the most, before flinging it in the opposite direction. He almost ran into someone and lost control of the grey stone- sending it flying at another person. One who Orion was right to fear after what she was known for.

[Ninon]

Ellie Hollows: victor, mentor - artist. She was sat in the District Square on an almost broken bench, a pad on her lap and a pen in her hand. Her eyes were trained on the paper the pad was open to a sheet of paper she drew what she saw in her mind. However, the things she saw in her mind weren't the happiest of things. Though, after seeing her two siblings fall victim to the Games, she was lucky she could still smile.

After finishing a quite morbid sketch, she closed the pad and stood up. She looked around before walking back the way she had came. She didn't plan on going back home but she didn't know what else to do. Maybe she could go to the lab or just wander around aimlessly. She soon found her thoughts being interrupted when she felt a sharp pang stab the side of her head. Ellie's head snapped in the direction the pain had come from and looked at Orion. Had he just hit her? A questioning expression melted onto her face as she stared at him. "Did you... Just hit me?"

[Orion]

Orion stared back at Ellie as she spoke. He was ten at the time that she was in the Hunger Games. His parents hadn't allowed him to watch, but he heard a lot from fellow students saying that it was pretty gruesome. He was able to catch a glimpse, six years ago, of her face as her brother was killed before her. It was an incredibly sad face, and Orion could never look at her without seeing that face.

Until now. Now, he saw her expression of disbelief as she questioned him. He started with "Uh... um... Uh..." And worked his way to, "I- I mean, it was-" Finally he got out a sentence.

"I'm so sorry, Miss Hollows! It was an accident! I bumped into that guy, and the rock just flew right at you- It was an accident..."

[Ninon]

Her eyes narrowed a little as he stuttered. This again? A soft sigh escaped her and she just started at him until he final was able to spit the sentence out. "It's okay and you don't need to call me Miss Hollows. I'm not that old," though she felt that old. When the rock had hit her, she almost thought she was back in the games. Almost. She couldn't let herself go back into that little dark space of her mind. It always left her tired mentally and emotionally.

Instead, she placed on hand on her hip and continued to stare at him. She recognized him from somewhere. Ah, she knew where. The lab. "You're Orion, no? The little genius?" Maybe, since he was so smart, if he ended up being a tribute, he would listen. He would live. She hated to think this way but she couldn't help but look around at all the children and wonder if they would end up getting closer to her then they wanted. If they would end up spending days with her, only to be left on their own in the arena. Though, she never truly left a child on their own. She would always give them at least one thing - anything.

She closed her eyes and shook her head a little, her expression becoming tainted with pain for but a second before she recovered and looked back at him.

[Orion]

Orion slightly bowed his head when she told him how to address her. Ellie, then. How odd, for a weakling like Orion to be calling a known killer casually, by their first name. Not that he blamed her for the killing. That was known as survival in the Games. He also nodded when she said his name, sort of surprised that she recognized him. Was he that well-known? He never considered it. He looked her in the eye.

"You were in the Hunger Games, six years ago, right?" he asked. In truth, he knew that and more. He was sure she knew that he knew, too. But he was just trying to be polite.

((OOC: Sorry, length failure on my part.))

[Ninon]

She watched him as he looked down. She didn't want to be known as a killer. No matter the reason. However, she was, it seemed. It was just one of her reasons she hardly ever wore a smile. A false name. A broken life. This is what the Games did to her and many others. Except for District One. Victors were known as heroes. At least, that's what she imagined.

Though, the girl who hardly smiled had a twitch in the corner of her lips as he asked if she was the victor from six years ago. Of course, she knew he knew. She raised her arm slowly and pushed the bridge of her glasses farther up her nose with her index and middle finger. That's when the ever so slight smile appeared on her face. "How I wish I could say no," at that, her smile became saddened and then all together disappeared. But how lovely that a stranger such as himself had made a smile appear.

(OOC: It's all cool~)

[Orion]

Orion watched as she smiled, surprised that she did, and also watched it vanish as quickly as it had come. Maybe being a victor did that to you. The Games took away your happiness.

Orion didn't want that for himself. But he knew he had a very good chance to be chosen, with twenty-five slips with his name in that box. More than anyone in any of his classes. As a matter of fact, they all had older siblings who signed up for extras. Not Orion. He had to be his parents' first child. Better him than someone else, though. He had even been studying a wide variety of plants and their chemicals, just in case. It could save his life, someday.

Looking at Ellie, he asked the question that had been bothering him for many months. "How many times was your name put in when you were reaped? Mine's in twenty-five times," he told her. He knew that it wasn't much compared to some people, but it was enough. There were times that a twelve-year-old who hadn't signed up for anything was reaped. Sometimes, fate liked to be mean.

[Ninon]

To her, the Games took more than her happiness away. They took her brother, her sister, her sleep, and her sanity. Any thoughts she now held were tainted with a black cloud that she couldn't seem to shake. And being here wasn't helping anything. People looked at her differently. Either with pity or something else she couldn't quite see. She didn't care much anyway. They had no idea what she went through. And some of them never would. And she was glad. If she could be glad about anything, it's that some of these people managed to cheat the reaping. She's glad every year as she waits for them to call the names of the new tributes and not a single twelve year old or thirteen year old is chosen. She would not wish the Games on anyone.

Her eyes were empty as he asked the question. It wasn't chance that her name was drawn. She had expected it every single year. She was just waiting. Her voice didn't shake as she gave him the answer. Her voice was void of all emotion. "Fifty-one times. I signed up for tesserae for each of my family members." Though, her acts of trying to keep her siblings out of Games were in vain. Riley was only fourteen. His name was only in the reaping three times. And he was chosen along side her. And Emily. Sweet little Emily's name was only in the reaping once. Once. She did her best to try and failed miserably.

[Orion]

Orion calculated that for a moment. Wait, wouldn't that mean that neither of her siblings entered more than the automatic amount? But her sister was only twelve... She was only entered once! But Ellie's name was in more than twice as many times as Orions... He had to figure out the numbers later.

"So, your sister- sorry for mentioning it- was only entered once, but she was reaped... That pretty much means that the person who is reaped can literally anyone, be it a twelve year old or an eighteen year old. That seems very unfair," he said.

Of course it was unfair. Having a twelve year old added the innocent-turned-murderer factor. The Capitol would love that. And an eighteen-year-old weightlifter crying for his mommy? How funny! Well, the people of the Capitol were sadistic, sadistic people.

[Ninon]

She pushed a lock of her hair behind her ear and pushed her glasses farther up her nose yet again. This was probably the most attention she's given someone in a while. She never really liked to be alone. She was just afraid. Some would think that once you cheated death itself, someone would no longer have reason to be afraid. Ellie was no longer afraid for her life. She was afraid for her heart. She had already lost two people she loved to the games. Plus twenty-four children she didn't even know whose lives she held in her hand year. After year. She let down.

She had to close her eyes as the morbid thoughts swam around in her mind. "It's unfair that these Games even exist. We shouldn't have to do this. They're just children for Pete's sake!" She sighed heavily and put her hand to her forehead. If she hated anything, it were the Games.

Her eyes fell upon Orion once more and they were no longer void. They were alive with anger and pain. She had to look away. She couldn't fall apart like this. Not here. "Sorry for bursting out like that," she said quietly.

[Orion]

Orion shook his head. He knew that the Games messed up some people, but the fact that Ellie wasn't sitting in a corner muttering meant that she was going through some messed up things in her head. He hoped, if he didn't get Reaped, that he would never become a mutterer or a silent sufferer.

"It's okay. I can only start to imagine what those Games do to you. But I agree completely. I don't even know why were are forced to do them!"

It was true. He had learned since he was a young child that it just was. Never a reason, just because they deserve it. But what did the people do to deserve such a thing? And they were doing this decades ago! "Sadistic freaks.." he accidentaly said out loud.

[Ninon]

Ellie knew why they held the Games. Though the simple word could cause so much commotion. Her eyes looked around them, searching for any Peacekeepers. Once she was sure there were none, she whispered, "They hold the Games in punishment for the Uprising from a long time ago. They destroyed District Thirteen and to show that they had complete control over us, they force kids to be killed. Have we not learned our lesson after so many years?"

She sighed slightly, shaking her head. She did not disagree with Orion's comment. They were sadistic. Sadist, egotistical maniacs that want to play God. That want to watch children kill. And die. They were corrupted. How could someone who's supposed to guide everyone - protect everyone - end up killing. Everyone.

She crossed one arm over her chest, tucking her hand between her side and other arm. She was carrying the pad and pen still. She had to change the subject. It was causing her to become paranoid and much more. "Where were you heading?" Maybe they could walk around or something. Leave this area and the topic of death behind them. She couldn't take much more.

[Orion]

Orion never heard of an uprising. Were they trying to hide it? No, that would defeat the Hunger Games' purpose. Then, why hadn't he heard of it? He must've been out of school that day. Or maybe... They didn't even care about the purpose anymore. Maybe they just wanted it to be this way. Not even as punishment for the citizens- maybe as a form of entertainment to the Capitol. What even gave them the right?

To Ellie's question, he shrugged. He wasn't really headed anywhere in particular, just bored. Which is what he told her. "Nowhere in particular. I was just bored. Which is why I was flinging that rock around, and why it hit you. Sorry about that again..."

Orion had nowhere in particular to go. Not the Lab, because they'd just kick him out. Not home, because his parents would be preoccupied with his sister. There wasn't really anywhere to go but about, so that's where he was. Actually, he was thinking about going into the forest to collect some samples, but he didn't know what Ellie would think about that. Something good, he hoped. He decided not to mention it just yet.

[Ninon]

He probably hadn't heard of the Uprising because the simple word could cause total chaos. But if they weren't teaching why the Games were happening, then what was the point? Ellie was a little shocked that Orion didn't know the reasons behind these Games. If they weren't teaching the reason why anymore, then what was the point to the Games? It sickened her. They did it for entertainment.

Her eyes cleared as he started to talk again, pulling her from her thoughts. She started to wonder if he was hungry. If he was, they could go eat. Wait. Hopefully that idea wasn't too creepy. She was older than he was, much older. She didn't want to come off as a creeper so she just kept her mouth shut. Though, when he apologized, she almost smiled again. Almost. "There's no need for you to be sorry. It was an accident." She really didn't care about it anymore. The small pain had subsided long ago. The only thing was that sneak attacks, even if they're just accident, always brought back memories of the Games and sometimes she'd think she was still in them. Though, she didn't have that problem this time. Orion was lucky that it wasn't a bigger rock. Then there would have been trouble.

She had been walking home during the evening one time. People had been off work for a while so not a lot were out. She saw the guy as he passed so she didn't really understand why she acted the way he did. Maybe it was because he had certain features another guy in the arena had. But as he passed, he accidentally bumped into her. Since she wasn't paying much attention, she stumbled to the side and had to catch herself on a pole. She had suddenly had a flash back to the Games - when she was fighting and had gotten knocked back. Her arms extended and she swung it through the air as if pushing something. A rock that had been near by her flew at the guy and his him in the shoulder. He had to get some stitches but she bought him food for his family. It ended quite smoothly and she was lucky for that.

She shook her head and closed her eyes. Her mind couldn't escape the Games. She needed a distraction.

[Orion]

Orion was still feeling slightly guilty. It wasn't even close to being in his attitude to hit random people with rocks. Especially people like Ellie, who definitely did not need those things after what they've been through. He looked at the victor from six years ago. She was actually very pretty, albeit visibly haunted by what happened to her. And no one could blame her. But when Orion figured out her age according to how old she was back then, he realized that she might just be creeped out because a kid six years younger than her was flirting with her.

He also realized that Ellie was sixteen during the Games. The same age as Orion was now. He shivered, having an ominous feeling of precognition- he was going to be reaped. He wasn't sure if he actually was, but he could see himself, alongside kids with blank faces, preparing to kill eachother, and virtually themselves, once they entered that arena. It took all Orion had not to faint. It was horrible.

Orion forced himself to smile, but it was mixed with a look of dread, making it quite an odd expression. "Anyways, they'll kick me out of the Labs if I go there. That's why I'm herem" he told her. He scanned teh area for Peacekeepers just as she had moments before, and said, "Have you been in the Forest?" He whispered it very quietly, more cautiously than she had. If he had been caught doing something vaguely rebellious, he would be toast. Never allowed in the Labs again, he was sure.