Flares | Johanna Mason

X. The Dance

Ethan

One more night.

One last night on this shitty victory tour then he could go home. One more time letting The Reaper be in control then he could go to the back of Ethan's mind for a while. He would never fully go away but he would be less prominent when Ethan was back in familiar territory, back with his family.

Then there was Johanna. If he was honest, something had shifted between them since District Four.

He picked his clothes to try and get a reaction out of the older girl. He played Johanna's little flirting games even when he had never really done so before. The first thing he looked for now when he walked into a room wasn't where the alcohol was that would help him get through it all. His eyes searched for Johanna.

"You know why you're doing all that, don't you. If I know what it is, you certainly do."

He just had to turn up didn't he.

"What do you want?" Ethan snapped.

"No need for the anger Ethan, you'll need that later." Reaper smirked at him.

"Could you hurry the fuck up and tell me what you want."

"It's simple Ethan, I want an answer."

"An answer to what." Ethan asked begrudgingly.

"I cannot be bought, but I can be stolen with one glance. I'm worthless to one but priceless to two. What am I?"

Ethan knew the answer but it couldn't be right. Surely not.

Could it actually be the answer as to why he had been acting so weird around Johanna? He knew that he was attracted to her physically, that he couldn't deny, not even to himself.

But then he had let her in closer than any other person outside of his family. He told her things he had never told anyone else. He wanted to know everything; her likes, her dislikes, what her childhood was like.

So maybe he was right.

"Love."

Reaper smirked one again from the corner, "What was that? I couldn't quite hear that from the corner."

"The answer is love! Is that what you fucking wanted?"

"Perfect." Reaper said, stepping out of the corner and clapping his hands. "Now, let's talk about Johanna's love for you."

Confusion was etched onto Ethan's face, "Johanna doesn't love me."

"I know I'm the smart one between the two of us, but you surely can't be this dense." Reaper sighed, "The flirting, calling you Pretty Boy, how protective she is of you. The jealous look that crosses her face whenever a woman other than her has your attention while we've been on this tour. None of that screams 'I'm in love with you' to you?"

"What jealous looks?" Ethan asked, somehow getting even more confused.

"You blind oblivious bastard." Reaper muttered under his breath, before he looked back up to Ethan. "You'll see what I mean in a bit. Speaking of, you have to get changed. Can't be late for the big party, can we."

-

"Just smile." Was what Sage had told him before they had entered the main room of the Presidential Palace. Why should he smile when he hated every single person that was in the room?

Why should he smile when the people in the room betted on his life?

Why should he smile when they cheered whenever he killed innocent children that were stuck in the same shit situation as he was, forced to compete for their lives?