Wave ~ Hunger Games [1]

nineteen

+ tokens +

Both Ridley and I sat on a couch as far away from each other as possible, at different ends as I propped m yarn up on the rest, looking over at Talisa who sat in the armchair facing us. As usual there was a glass in her hand holding some form of alcohol, which was pretty peculiar considering she had already had three glasses at dinner yet, but all she had done since we got here was drink, even though it didn't take a toll on her at all.

"You need to show what you're good at in 10 minutes" Talisa told us, leaning back as she crossed one leg over the other, the turtle neck I was wearing a bit too tight as I pulled it away from my neck. Ridley and I hadn't spoken to each other since the training room earlier today, which wasn't too difficult because when ever we were in a room together he would leave at the first possible opportunity.

"Waverley, pick up a trident" she said to me, pointing over at me as I nodded my head at her, causing her to look over at Ridley who was staring back at her. "Ridley, make a net" she told him as he let out a small breath, nodding his head reluctantly as she turned away from him, taking a sip of her drink quickly. "I also need what you want to take as your tokens so I can hand them in for inspection" she said to us as Ridley moved his head to the side.

"Tokens?" he asked her, unsure on what she was talking about as she leaned forward, setting her elbows on her knees as she nodded her head. "You get one thing you can take into the arena with you, something from home" she clarified as I nodded my head at her. I remember seeing in the square that a girl a few years ago brought in a small wooden ball, having dropped it before the countdown ended, they practically had to scrape her off of the podium. "I need to get them checked and cleared to make sure they can't be used as a weapon or be advantageous to you winning" she added onto the end, running her hand through her hair as she put her glass down on the coffee table before pointing at he two of us.

"You need to get high scores in your assessments so it's easier to get you sponsors, they aren't going to pay if they think you won't win" Talisa told us, going back to the conversation about our assessments, which I had been planning for a while now. "The academy careers will probably score quite high, so you need to do the same or they will kill you" she said to me, looking me straight in the eyes, causing me to squirm, Ridley scoffing lightly from the other side of the couch, shaking his head at her advice.

"That's it so, you need to get some sleep to be ready for tomorrow, and I want both of your tokens by breakfast tomorrow or you aren't taking anything in" she said looking between the both of us, Ridley standing up as fast as anything, walking straight to his room down the corridor, causing me to watch him go. "Here" I said to Talisa, getting up and pulling Firth's bracelet off of my wrist, holding it out to her as she took it off of me, looking down at it as I sat on the couch again. "Are you sure you want to take this in? Once I give it for inspection it's final" she said, holding it up as I nodded my head at her, causing her to inspect it intently.

"Is it your mothers?" she asked me, running her finger over the pearl like I often did, looking back up at me with a raised eyebrow. "My boyfriend made it" I replied, nodding my head slowly as I leaned into the couch, Talisa setting it on her leg as she let out a sigh, looking over at me. "I didn't want to say anything else in front of Ridley because I know he's taking the fact he's not in the career pack quite hard" she started, causing me to nod my head as I set my chin in my hand, propping it up as I listened to her.

"But you need to start making a plan with the rest of the careers, or at least make sure you know the plan they have brewing" she told me as I nodded my head at her, knowing that there had to be a plan for the games. "If you don't know what they are planning to do it means they made a plan without you, which means they are going to kill you" she told me seriously, making me realise I hadn't actually talked to them that much except from when I was trying to prove myself to them, which was all the time.

"Were you in the career pack in your games?" I asked her cocking my head to the side, this being the first time I had ever had a decent conversation with Talisa. "I was an academy volunteer" she said with a small smirk, shaking her head as she looked away from me, staring at nothing. "I had to practically fight another girl to volunteer" she added, her eyebrows raised as I didn't reply for a moment, hoping that she would keep talking.

"I won in 6 days" she said a little uncertain, probably not having to think about her games in a long time, or more importantly not wanting to remember her games. "You must of been like 5" she added shaking her head as she looked back over at me, causing me to nod my head, never actually remembering a time when Talisa want a victor. "What is the academy like?" I asked her, never having met anyone that I could talk to like this who went to the academy.

There was stories about what the academy was like, but no one actually knew as it was practically illegal as an institution as a whole, the Capitol turning a blind eye to it. "Harsh to say the least" she said to me as I straightened up my head, pushing my hair behind my ears. "I was trained with swords and spears" she told me, every person who attended academy specialising in a specific weapon their whole lives.

"How many tributes did you" I started, deciding it wasn't a nice question to ask as I shook my head at her, rubbing my lips together. "No sorry, don't answer that" I said, looking down at my feet as she let out a small laugh, finding my blunder funny as she raised eyebrows. "I killed 4 in the bloodbath, then about 8 others, including all 5 of my allies" she said, ignoring my apology as she openly answered me. I didn't reply, my mouth slightly open in shock as I looked back up at Talisa, not realising how much of a killer she was before.

"You should probably go get some sleep" she said to me, standing up as she picked up her glass, causing me to stand up as well as I nodded my head at her. "I'll give this to the review board once I get Ridley's, you'll get it back tomorrow night" she told me, motioning to my bracelet as I nodded my head at her, smiling weakly. "Now go to bed" she said to me, motioning her glass to the corridor where my room was, smiling over at me as I smiled back to the best of my ability before opening my mouth.

"Goodnight"

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A/N: honestly, creating Talisa as a character was one of the best decisions i've ever made, I literally love her so much
anyway I wanted some bonding between Talisa and Waverley as I really want to create a strong relationship between the two of them
please vote and comment and i will see you soon