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Post by Deleted on Jul 19, 2017 9:34:30 GMT -7
The world was shaking. Whispers in the dark. Fear was contagious. Words were weapons. Siri tried to stay away from it all, tried to act like everything was normal as it had ever been. The games would begin soon and she plunged herself into work, trying to help the Head Gamemaker in every possible way she could think how, while everyone talked and gossiped. This was nothing. This would blow over. Everything would be okay. A couple of riots was nothing to worry about, it would go back to normal soon enough.
She walked up to her door, finding her usual visitor. Siri smiled, "I don't know why you insist on waiting outside every night for me. Freya would let you in. Or perhaps, you're waiting for me to offer you a key?" She had already thought about it a hundred times. Freya, their avox, and her brother lived in the same apartment. But it was her apartment and she had the right to give a key to whoever she wished. But every time she held the key in her hand and thought about handing it to him, she stopped herself, never bringing up the topic. But for some reason, tonight, the words slipped out. This was a big step. They'd been seeing each other for almost a year now. And Caius was still just as mysterious as the first day she'd met him.
She held the key in her fingers, dangling it in front of him. Would he deny it, just as he'd denied her about going inside and waiting for her? He was difficult, this man. But it was part of why she'd fallen for him. Well. Not exactly. Not yet fell. About to fall. If she would only let go of her doubts. But there were always doubts that lingered. She didn't know him, not all of him. She hadn't even been to his apartment, let alone met his family. And he had been in every room of her home. Made love to her on every piece of furniture. Touched every inch of her body. Her family, her life, her home was his. So why wasn't she a part of his life?
Words: 369
TAG: @faisal
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Post by Deleted on Jul 24, 2017 21:11:24 GMT -7
It all started with that first night. It continued because Caius lacked self control.
Coin wasn’t happy, to say the least.
Her opinion didn’t truly matter, at least, not when Caius had already gone and fallen in love.
He allowed himself to go to the first dinner. For reconnaissance, that was all. Infiltrating a typical Capitolite’s day, seeing in their environment, that had value. Caius convinced himself it did, at least. As soon as they’d gotten into the house, Caius forgot himself. He forgot that he was Caius, a soldier in the army fighting for the liberation of the Districts of Panem. He forgot what the Capitol had done to him, what it had done to his father. During that dinner, Caius was Eros. He gave enough information in his cover story that he’d rehearsed so diligently back in 13 to clear any suspicions at first, just enough to get him through the single evening. That’s all he wanted.
Then, of course, he saw Siri smile. He saw how she laughed. The way she looked at her brother. When she invited him to see her again, he couldn’t say no.
Of course, intel quickly realized the problem. Caius was threatened with removal from the Capitol and from 13’s Army. Coin said that she would personally chain him in a cell. For the most part, Caius understood that the threats were baseless. He knew that 13 needed him far more than he needed them. They couldn’t expose him in the Capitol, as it would mean their own exposure. In fact, if they removed him from the army, Caius could carry out a better life. For the rest of his days, he could live as Eros in the Capitol. Coin and the rest of high command knew that, too. Instead, they reassigned his mission as soon as they gained more intel on Siri: Date the Gamemaker, find game intel.
At first, Caius felt guilty, like the relationship had always been a mission. But as the days became weeks and months and, finally, a year, he knew that it was anything but. The mission was the line tethering him to 13 which he still separated from Siri in his mind.
As with almost every day, Caius walked to Siri’s home and waited to be let inside. It was his incredibly mundane routine. He still had no clue how he managed to trade up from bullet shells and gunshot wounds to sharing the same bed and the same life as Siri. The whole thing was miraculous, really. She stayed with him despite his secrets, never pushing him to answer questions about himself. Truly miraculous.
The door swung open, revealing a smiling Siri and the apartment he’d come to know as home. Before Siri finished, Caius was formulating a smart reply, but her last words made him stop thinking all together for a moment. ”You think so?” he asked, a small smile forming on his lips. He couldn’t tell if she was being serious. Then, suddenly, the key was dangling from her finger, his for the taking. Its gold metal gleamed in the light from the street lamps, inviting him to take hold of it.
Taking the key should’ve been so easy. Instead, he knew it would weigh heavier in his pocket than any other piece of metal. Siri had given so much for him. She’d opened up her entire life to him and gotten almost none of his in return. She still didn’t even know his real name. It felt deceitful to allow this charade to continue for so long.
He’d tell her the truth. One day.
But that day wasn’t today.
Caius allowed his smile to widen. Without skipping a beat, he reach forward for the key, looking at it for a moment before slipping it into his pocket. ”Guess you were right then, huh? Maybe you should find employment as a mind reader.” He took another step forward, put a hand on Siri’s arm, his tone changing slightly. ”It is great to see you, though. I’ve been looking forward to it all day.” That part was completely true, to his merit. While he’d been meeting with a rebel earlier, his mind wandered to Siri more than once during the conversation. That had become as commonplace as she had. And, judging by the key pressing against the top of his thigh, every other aspect of their life together was becoming that way, too.
Words: 745
Tags: @siri
Notes: Yikes, I really didn’t mean to do this
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Post by Deleted on Jul 24, 2017 21:52:34 GMT -7
"Really?" she asked as she went in and took her shoes off by the door. "Your work must be more tedious than mine. I've been looking at metal compositions all day, trying to figure out what type of new weapons we can create. District 2 is usually in charge of these things, but there seems to be some problems over there I wasn't made aware of. So of course I've been put in charge and it's one long headache after another. I miss the days when I would just tell someone what weapons I wanted, when to have them delivered, and they would make it happen," she vented to him, the words coming out easily. It was so easy to just tell him everything without having to worry. But she did worry, at the back of her mind. Who was she telling her life to?
"Hello, Freya. Eggplant Parmesan for dinner tonight, if you could," she said to her avox before settling into the couch, propping her feet up on the ottoman. Siri turned on the television, a replay of the old Capitol news playing once more. She put the volume to low and turned to Caius, "how was your day? Did Jessie finally find a sitter for her pet turtle or are you stuck babysitting it during work hours?"
She always asked about his day and she always got a vague answer, though sometimes he'd throw in a name here and there. But she could never put a face to the names. She didn't know any of these people or what they did as far as work. Only that this person spilled something on their shirt or this person had a cat allergy, etcetera. It was always detailed and yet, didn't much say anything about Caius or his job.
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TAG: @faisal
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Post by Deleted on Jul 24, 2017 22:11:59 GMT -7
One of the balancing acts in Caius’s life was the decision on how much interest to convey. The information Siri so casually dropped could be incredibly important. It could save lives and give the rebels ground. Ideally, he could get every last drop of knowledge she had on the topic out of her. But normal Capitolite boyfriends couldn’t do something like that. Besides, if he blew his cover on one lead, he’d never be able to find out anything on another. As usual, he tediously skirted the topic, extracting what information he was able to get casually. Caius hummed, a dissatisfied noise that fit the part. ”New compositions? I hope that doesn’t mean that you all lost 2 as a supplier - I can’t imagine the strain that it’d put on you.” And it would certainly strain Siri. She’d be more stressed than he’d ever seen her. Caius hated to see her crawl into bed at night looking like the life had been drained out of her.
On the other hand, though, what she was telling Caius was, overall, good news. If the Gamemakers were picking up 2’s slack for Games materials, that certainly pointed to a higher state of disfunction and a more severe impact on the Capitol. If metal technicians were failing in 2, who else was?
Caius dropped onto the couch beside Siri, turning to face her. He reach out, taking a strand of her hair to play with and twirl in his fingers. ”I’m sure that these riots can’t last that much longer. I’m sure the Peacekeepers will calm things down and everything will go back to normal soon enough.”
Of course, the conversation turned to him, just as it usually did. He’d gotten by for a year on invented stories about invented coworkers. It was really quite a piece of work to remember everything he’d told her and keep up with the trail of lies he’d left. ”Nope,” Caius responded, laughing a little. ”She’s just gone to stay with her family in the South. We’re not really sure how long she’ll be gone, but we’ve decided that she’s definitely not going to get a sitter now that she knows I’ll end up doing it for free. What she doesn’t realize is that she’s given me an excuse to not do my actual work.”
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Post by Deleted on Jul 24, 2017 22:21:16 GMT -7
"What?" Siri asked, her brows furrowing? "Why would we? They didn't tell me what the problem was, but I assume it must be that they..." Siri tried to think of a reason why the engineers in District 2 couldn't come up with the weapons. There must be a good explanation. "They maybe... I don't know. But I'm sure it's not that. There's been no mention of it in the news. So everything must be alright." Siri lived in absolute bliss, not knowing anything beyond what they told her and she was okay with that. It made her life uncomplicated. They told her what to do and she did it. She was safe, she was taken care of. What more could she possibly want?
"Riots?" she gave him an unsteady smile. "They weren't riots. Merely disagreements. President Snow made an announcement just this morning. Everything is fine in the Districts. The criminals are being punished. Honestly, Caius, do you really think there's a rebellion? That's so ridiculous, it's nothing but criminals, as always. And they'll be gotten rid of, as always."
"Hm, and what do you actually do at work, besides from play with the turtle all day?" She pressed on just slightly. Couldn't he give her something? Why couldn't he tell her what he did? Was it a big secret? Maybe she could just ask and he'd say, maybe that's why he hadn't said anything, because she hadn't exactly asked. Was there just some miscommunication that she wasn't picking up on?
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Post by Deleted on Jul 24, 2017 22:39:55 GMT -7
Caius nodded at Siri’s words. It was so easy for him to forget just how ignorant the Capitolites were, how little they actually understood. ”Oh, that’s a relief,” he said, forcing a calm demeanor. ”I’ve just gotten a little paranoid, you know? There’s been some talk on the streets about the Districts and it’s gotten me a little anxious. But, I’m sure you’re right though.” Caius returned Siri’s smile and forced his next words through his teeth. ”I’m sure President Snow would tell us if things were getting out of hand.”
At times like this, Caius wondered what Siri would do if she knew the full truth of the suffering in the Districts, of the rebellion - the war - that was gearing up. Part of Caius wanted to tell her everything, but the other, stronger half, felt it was more important that she lived comfortably for as long as possible. Maybe her ignorance was keeping her safe, and, even if it wasn’t, it probably made her feel that way.
Caius twirled the strand of hair between his fingers. He’d wondered when she’d ask this question. It was one of the parts of his new identity that he rehearsed before leaving for the Capitol. ”Well,” he told her, ”Most of what I do for work - at least recently - involves playing with turtles or daydreaming. When I’m not doing that, though, which, to be honest, is rarely, I do office work. Nothing special. I coordinate with some of the shipping centers across Panem to move goods here. I’d rather play with turtles any day.” Caius smiled, settled deeper into the couch. ”Interesting, right?”
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