the sun has faded

please love me

It's Joshes third time mentoring tributes. It won't be his last. As the only remotely lucid District 6 victor he is guaranteed to mentor every year until he too succumbs to morphling's temptation.

Their names are Hanna and Mark. They are fifteen and seventeen respectively, and they are looking at him with wet, terrified eyes as though he has all the answers. He wants to tell them that he knows nothing. That he is a nineteen year old with no real understanding of how he won, let alone an understanding of how to help others win.

That would be counter-productive though. Best to instill at least a margin of confidence in his tributes. "Right. So first things first, lets watch the other districts' reapings. Get an idea of who our competition is."

The tributes from the career districts are predictably intimidating. "The upside is, although they may look big, they are not always very smart," he declares optimistically. (They are usually smart, but not ALWAYS he justifies to himself). In contrast, the tributes from District 11 and twelve are wafer thin with sunken eyes. No threat there.

The only tribute who really stands out as abnormal is the boy from District 7. He has wide brown eyes and matching brown hair; the picture of teenage innocence. "He's cute," Hanna says with a tiny giggle. Mark smiles at her.

"He can probably sever your head with an axe," Josh responds bluntly. "Don't underestimate any District 7 tribute. That attitude is why Johanna Mason won last year." He's glad he has not officially met Johanna yet. She had personally killed both of his tributes last year. "If you see that boy in the arena, I don't want you to be thinking 'he's cute.' I want you to kill him."

"Okay." Hanna looks like she's going to be sick. Mark looks miserable. Josh doesn't regret his words. They might be sick and miserable, but at least they understand what they are up against.

•

District 6' export trade is transportation. They have huge factories and massive amounts of brain and man power that go into designing and building the complex trains and hovercrafts used in the games.

Josh doesn't worry about either of those things. Since he is a victor he does not have to work, and can therefore occupy his time with whatever he pleases. Today, he chooses to focus on the little buggies and scooters that their district builds for the rich capitol citizens to zoom around on and do whatever it is rich capitol people do with their time.

He brings his younger sisters to the construction site once they're out of school for the day. Paying off workers with food so that he can entertain his sisters just so happens to be Josh' specialty. He tries to make every day as perfect as possible for them.

Abby and Ashley are both of reaping age. Josh knows that if they are reaped it will be no one's fault but his own. He will have done something wrong and unintentionally earned the capitol's wrath, or they will be reaped simply for being the siblings of a previous victor. Nothing is more entertaining than watching a victor mentor their family.

Abby and Ashley giggle hysterically as they race their scooters around the site. Behind them, Olivia, a family friend which Josh's family had taken in when her family died was carefully maneuvering a buggy around. She was 15 now, the oldest of the girls living in their house, and personally Josh's most loved person in the world. It wasn't as though he didn't love his blood sisters, but they treated him different, ever since he won.

Please love me. Josh' mind screams at them. Please love me, even after everything I have done, even after everything I will do.

"That was fun J," Olivia says reassuringly as they head home. "Thanks for bringing us." She smiles, taking his hand and squeezing it.

"Yeah, it was so much fun!" Abby says happily.

"No problem," he answers jubilantly. "Anything you guys ever want to do. I'll make it happen. All you have to do is ask."

That night they watch Tyler's victor speech in District 5. He talks about how lovely District 5's victors were and how sad he is that they are gone. He doesn't apologize. Josh is reluctantly proud.

•

Finnick is hiding from his tributes when Josh finds him.

"Your tributes both got tens," he informs him. The training scores had just gone up. Hanna and Mark had gotten fives. Josh couldn't deal with reassuring them about their mediocre scores. So he went to find Finnick instead.

Finnick barely acknowledges him. Admittedly, the fact that his career tributes got high scores is hardly shocking news. "You think one of yours is going to win?" Josh asks.

"Probably," Finnick shrugs. "Or that beast of a girl from one."

"Saw your two both got fives. Tyler got a nine." Oh great, Johanna had joined the party.

"Maybe mine are hiding their talents," Josh responds. "I'm sure you know a little something about that strategy."

"Yeah, sure," Johanna snorts. "I'll believe that when I see it," she pauses, bouncing on the balls of her feat uneasily. "Snow asked me something today. Wants me to sleep with some patrons for him or some shit. Can you believe that?"

Finnick and Josh both stiffen, because they absolutely do not talk about this subject. They do not talk about the five bookings Finnick had already had that day, or the one that Josh had the next morning. They simply turn up, try not to cry too noticeably, and then spend the next couple hours scrubbing their skin raw in the shower.

"I mean why would he even bother asking me that?" Johanna continues in disbelief. "Surely no one ever says yes?"

Josh remains silent. Finnick chuckles bitterly.

"You two?" she is shocked. Josh feels unexpectedly satisfied at her horrified expression.

"Yeah, sometimes," Josh says. "Although Finnick is quite a bit more popular than I am."

"Who doesn't want to be popular?" Finnick says with an eerily empty smile.

"And the reason people say yes, is so that Snow doesn't kill everyone they've ever loved," Josh finishes serenely.

Johanna abruptly stands up and walks away. Josh can hear her vomit from the hallway.