#advisors or grizzled victors who have to train the kids

[softquietsteadylove]

I'm rewatching The Hungergames right now and thought it must be possible to imagine Thenamesh in this kind of situation.

"You can't hide in here forever."

Gil nearly yelped, but he couldn't help it. He had been all but trembling since they got on the transports, and now things were really setting in. They were really here, they were really going to be competing with each other - to the death - in a matter of weeks.

He really had volunteered to go in Phastos' place.

Her name was Thena, he remembered from their briefings. She was from District 2, and a favourite to win the whole damn thing. She was smart, she was strong, she was trained in blades and deadly from head to toe. And she was really pretty.

"Well?"

"S-Sorry," Gil murmured, creeping out from the solace he'd found in the equipment room. Everyone else was in the training room already, showing themselves off (or just trying not to look like a walking target).

"Don't apologise," she said immediately, crossing her arms at him. "Your decisions are your own from here on out. You have to be prepared to live with the consequences of every one of them."

"Right," he murmured, not entirely sure how to talk to the career driven girl. He fidgeted with his hands in front of him.

She paused, though, tilting her head at him. Her hair slipped over her shoulder. His eyes followed it. "You volunteered to compete in place of your brother."

Yes, he had famously volunteered as tribute, the first example of it in years, supposedly. They were from District 4, not the worst off, but not the best either. They had grown up swimming and fishing, but Phastos was a nervous kind of kid. He was better at inventing contraptions than wrestling with his fellow man.

Gil had heard his brother's name called, looked over and seen Phastos crying on Ben's shoulder, and ran forward.

"I admire you for it."

Well, he hadn't been expecting that. He looked up at her, finding a rare smile on her face. It was so beautiful it made her seem almost human. "Uh, thanks?"

She dropped her arms and her rigid stance all together. More and more she looked like a girl close to his age--a girl he could have known were it not for this shit show. "I volunteered for my brother."

Oh! He didn't even know that was allowed.

"Druig is smart, but he isn't strong," she admitted quietly, looking down at her feet. "He isn't a Fighter. But I am."

He knew that. Everyone around them knew it--Kingo had even told him that bets were passing hands in her favour. "What about the other guy?"

"Ikaris," she muttered, looking up at him again. "He's a Fighter, and I suppose I can't blame him for being angry with me. Because I volunteered, they had to re-raffle the boys' names."

Yeah, that was a pretty good reason.

"Be careful," she advised, "around him. I mean it--I may be at the top of his list, but Ikaris is vicious. I think he's the only one here more capable of a kill shot than I am."

Gil winced. He wasn't sure he wanted to see that. He wasn't going to be able to keep his promise to Phastos at all.

Thena stepped closer to him, though. "But he's not invincible--none of us are."

She seemed almost excited by that.

"Ikaris has a terrible temper," she continued telling him lethal information on her temporary teammate. "He's easily baited. And his form and technique aren't really that good, he's just strong. If you find yourself in range of him, play dirty."

Gil almost scoffed but Thena stepped in closer again. His jaw clapped shut, his cheeks flushing as he caught the scent of fancy shampoo off her hair.

"I mean it, Gil," she pressed, and he barely had to time to ask how she knew his name. "Taunt him, tease him, do anything necessary to make him lose his cool. It could end up saving your life if I'm not there."

"If you're not-"

"And stop cowering during the training sessions!" She was back to ordering him. She stepped back though, placing her hands on her hips. "I know how strong you are. You thought no one was looking but I've seen you re-rack the training weights like they're scraps of paper."

Yeah, it was from a lifetime of hauling fishnets onto the boats. It was a core workout if ever there was one.

"We might have to play their game, but I refuse to believe that our only allies are ourselves," she stated outright, gripping her fists as if she had her signature dual blades in her hands. "My advisor is sweet--maybe a little too sweet for all of this. But Ajak knows how the games work, how to get sponsors and how to poll well so people want to keep you around."

Well, that was easy for her to say, Gil couldn't help thinking. She was cool, beautiful, had that kind of unattainable don't-talk-to-me charm that could drive guys nuts. Of course she would be popular with the audience!

"I've got my eye on you, Gilgamesh," she concluded, stepping towards the door again. She looked at him over her shoulder. "Just...remember what I said when you're out there."

He didn't know if she meant in the training room or once they were really out there in the field. But he nodded, newly convinced that yeah--maybe he could make it through this. Just maybe.