the sun has faded

the games begin

Josh does not have the slightest clue what is
happening.

That morning Josh had received a request to report to deck 49, level 72, room 63. He had showed up promptly at 10 am, after having been dressed and fixed up by his stylist. Initially, there had been nothing unusual about the situation. The room was spacious, with a large bed in the centre and a tray of champagne and chocolates on the bedside table. The woman sitting on the bed was a typical capitol citizen, with vibrant red hair and silver flowers tattooed on her cheeks.

Even when she had started to behave slightly atypically (asking him if he would like to sit down, not attempting to remove either of their clothing, looking around the room as if she expected someone to pop out of the framework), he had still not suspected that anything was different.

"What would you like to do today?" he had asked her dutifully. He was already slipping into the emotionless, dead to the world mind frame that he adapted at these times. Any part of his head that still hurt and hoped and felt was in district six playing with his sisters.

When Josh is in this dark place in his head, he is admittedly not prepared for dealing with changes in routine. Which is why he is not altogether sure what he is supposed to do when the woman starts tearing apart the room.

"Ummm m'am?" he asks hesitantly. She shushes him impatiently as she continues to search the room for God knows what. That's about as much effort as Josh is willing to exert into understanding a capitol citizen. He wonders if her going insane is a good excuse for him to slip out. Can he risk leaving?

He eventually comes to the conclusion that sticking around is probably in his best interest. If all goes well maybe he won't even have to do anything, seeing as the woman is clearly having some sort of psychotic break. With that cheery thought he plops himself against the wall and starts munching on the chocolates.

At the sound of him sitting down the woman turns to stare at him. "Right," she says. "Right, okay. No working cameras."

Josh nods agreeably.

"So you're from district six then..." she begins pleasantly.

"Yes," he snaps, her words all too familiar. "And yes my family is in district six and I'm perfectly aware of what will happen to them if I don't cooperate. So you're really just wasting your time threatening me. Snow's got it covered." It was maybe a bit of an overreaction on his part, but he was tired of spoiled capitol women thinking that they had to reiterate painful facts to him time and time again.

"Alright," she brushes past his rant as if he had not spoken. "The creative head of hovercraft transportation also lives in district six, am I right?"

Joah schools his features so as to not visibly react to her words. He had cut off all contact with him years ago. He had not wanted to give the capitol anyone else to use against him. There was no way for her to know that they had ever been friends. "I would assume he lives in district six, seeing as we are in charge of hovercraft transportation," he answers coldly. "I can't say I really know who he is though."

"That's fine," she says indifferently. "I'm sure you know where to find him at least. Let him know that thirteen is my favourite number."

Josh is officially lost. Nothing makes sense anymore and he is half convinced that he's in the middle of a very vivid dream. "What is that even supposed to mean?"

She ignores his question, which is something he finds absolutely infuriating. "I've decided that I'm not actually in the mood," she tells him. "You should tell people that you just got me to finish quickly with your sexual prowess. It would help both our reputations, don't you think?"