drapetomonia - the overwhelming urge to run away.
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When Junia Beaumont, her brother and their classmates get a last assignment before the end of the school year, she doesn't know just how quickly things will change for her.
Who would have thought t...
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23.gun and axes
“If the Capitol can rig and cheat, so can we.”
There’s no changing Castiel’s mind. The fact that there’s no way to talk him out of the absolute catastrophe of a plan he came up with bothers June so immensely, she can barely stand the celebrations that her mother calls for after.
Even Alaric Beaumont is surprised at his son’s change of heart. When he comes home and his wife is in high spirits and throws her arms around him, he’s both delighted and incredibly confused. With the Games coming up, he was getting used to her barricading herself in her study until nightfall or later so seeing her in the living room with a glass of posca on the table is a nice change of pace.
Admittedly, he had always assumed his son would become a doctor like him, his father and his father’s father before him. It felt like tradition to him, however, he also welcomes Castiel taking after his wife. It’s sudden, sure, and he has a feeling he knows the reason behind his son’s sudden aspiration to work in the War Department instead.
He assumes it’s simply guilt for his tribute’s passing. A decision not thought through and based on nothing but emotions — but that doesn’t mean it’s any less worthy of praise.
Perhaps he’ll learn to see the good sides of the Games under Dr. Gaul’s care, much like his wife did years ago.
She was left horribly traumatized after the war and when she wanted to go back to work after Max was born, they reached out to her. Before the war, Adeena Beaumont had already worked for the War Department as a researcher and planned to continue doing so afterwards, however, the gamemakers wanted her to be involved directly. She was one of the Capitol university’s best students and an excellent researcher, they desperately needed someone like her.
His hope now is that Castiel might follow in her footsteps instead once he realizes how much goes into the Games. There’s still Junia or even Maximus who would be able to take his position one day, after all.
Unlike his father, Max doesn’t seem to care much. All he knows is that his mother is finally not working overtime and that there’s cake on the table. After what he saw at the funeral this morning, he’s in desperate need of something sweet.
And June? Well, if the sweetness of the cake could distract her from worrying about Cas for just a moment, that would be wonderful.
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The next morning, her mother drops her off at the Academy. Juna watches with great discomfort as her brother waves goodbye from the passenger seat and she forces herself to wave back, yet it does nothing to calm her nerves. She trusts her mother enough to keep an eye on Cas while he’s at the Citadel with her but she has to admit that she still doesn’t like it.
