AnonymousI’m dropping this RP. It’s just not the sort that I like… no offense, though, I hope all of you have fun. c: I guess I’m just cannon fodder.
[[Laushi, I’m not sure if you’re following me or not, but this is an invitation to you to RP. C:]]
Lyle nervously filed into the train car behind Laushi and their escort, his eyes red and swollen from crying. The good-byes had been really hard on him. Peacekeepers had to pry his mother away from him. He took a seat in front of one of the small tables throughout the car, where the two tributes were told to wait for their mentors.
He glanced up at Laushi somewhat shyly fingering a large silver band on his thumb. “Um… h-hi,” he said awkwardly. How to begin a conversation with someone about to enter the arena with you? “I don’t think we’ve met before. It’s Laushi, right?” he asked, sure to pronounce it like “Lucy.”
For once in his life, Lyle wasn’t hungry when he woke up in the morning. He followed his usual morning routine: helping his nieces and nephews get up and get dressed, seeing to it that each of them made it to the table to eat. Once all six of them were present, he allowed himself to sit and gingerly pushed his toast away when his mother laid it down before him. “You should eat, Ly,” the grey-haired woman said as she set it firmly in front of him again. “I can’t. I’m nervous,” he answered, tearing each piece into halves and handing them to Gaias and Sophia – the oldest, at 7 and 8. “Your name has only been in twice, dear. The odds are in your favor,” she said with the smallest smile before returning to the infants. The boy sank lower in his seat.
Lyle’s name wasn’t in the reaping bowl twice. It was in 14 times. Two were by default, the other twelve taken out for his mother, father, sister, brother, sister-in-law, brother-in-law, and all of the little ones. He couldn’t bring himself to tell any of them that he had taken out tesserae on their behalf. But his father was injured and out of commission for a while, and his brother-in-law was punished to two weeks with no pay at the factory for slacking off. With all the kids, his family barely scraped by even with the two incomes, they couldn’t manage without them. So he took the extra reaping entries and snuck his winnings into their pantry whenever they started to run low.
As he walked to the town square with the other children, Lyle felt an unfamiliar sense of dread looming over him. It hadn’t been so bad the year before. The boy supposed it had to do with all of his extra entries… but there was nothing to be done about it. Standing in line with the other thirteen-year-olds, he couldn’t help but think that it would be best for him to be sent off to the arena. Though his parents tried to convince him otherwise, Lyle knew he was an accident. That was the reason there was such a big age gap between Lyle and his older siblings. Why would a poor couple in their late forties be trying for a child? Now the aged couple was forced to act as parents to him, at a time when they were meant to be grandparents. Going into the Games would eliminate Lyle (and his burden) from their lives, and if not he would come home with enough money to provide for them a thousand times over. What better way to thank them for all they gave up?
The deep-voiced Capitol woman took to the stage, silence ringing out as she tried to rally the crowd into applause. The girl’s name—er, rather a butchered rendition of the girl’s name – was called, and Lyle watched her as she headed up onto the stage. The boy crossed his fingers tight, staring down into the ground and hoping with all his might to not be called.
“Lyle Gaines!” the woman called cheerily. Lyle felt the air leave his chest. He heard sighs of relief from all around him, heard the shuffling of feet when the other boys inched away from him as if the reaping was contagious. Lyle felt his lip starting to quiver. He glanced back to try and find his family in the crowd. There was his mother, holding little Moira on her hip and clutching his Father’s arm as if it were her only anchor to the Earth. The boy tried to find the others, but felt both of his arms being grabbed as Peacekeepers pulled him out of line and led him up to the stage. Despite his efforts, he couldn’t stop the tears from rolling down his cheeks. He stared down in shame as the Capitol woman went on, presenting the tributes from District Eight.
