To the Victor Goes the Spoils. {Psuedo&RandomName}

[AsianPsuedonym]

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Ana sighed softly as she watched the party goers within the room. People were jovial and eating as much as their bellies could hold, then of course taking the little shooters that would make them throw up so they could start eating again. Granted in the first two of these parties she had attended she had done the same. She had been enthralled with the perks of being a victor. Soon it started to wear on her though. She had watched eight children from her district die in the games, despite her best efforts to mentor them. Her mother, though receiving the best treatment money could buy, was withdrawn and quiet these days. Ana thought she may have even preferred her when she was high on morplin. These parties? They were a celebration of twenty three children dying in the games. She, however, was as always forced to keep up appearances. She was a popular past victor, her story probably was what made her survive the games. The capitolees loved a good tragedy and Ana was in almost every sense of the word, Tragic. Her story had captivated the capital, or at least that's what her mentor had said when she returned. Ana certainly had plenty of help during the games. She got three parachutes, on that had a tracker jacker anti venom when she'd been stung. Another with a much needed set of knives the third one, just a message of encouragement and a small bar of chocolate.

Her own victory party had be almost as grand though any had been to drunk to even care. All she had wanted after the games were finished was to eat and sleep, but just a few days after the games ended the parties began. It was parties non stop for nearly a month after she won, with capitolees fighting over her attentions. It had not bee her favorite time to say the least. The bright side had been was all the care she was able to get for her mother, but even that had seemed to have lost it's original luster.

Blue eyes blinked as one of the wait staff offered her another glass of wine. Ana faked a smile as she took the glass from him downing half of it in one go. She stared at the wine glass with a bit of ire as the wine served probably cost an arm and a leg. She shook her head before standing and going over to the refreshments bar. Hopefully to find something stronger than a glass of wine.

 

[randomname98766789]

Dylan Smith from District Four was this year's Hunger Games winner. The eighteen year old boy nearly survived all of his Reapings unscathed. When his name was called, he felt his heart drop to his stomach in disbelief. He didn’t think he could actually kill another human being. However, that all changed once he was in the arena. He wanted to live, he wanted to survive, so he fought hard. Being a Career district, he easily made it to the final five that included himself, both from District 1, a girl from 5 and a boy from 10. The bold move that he made was to attack the two from District One in their sleep. He was on guard one night and had heard them murmuring earlier that once there were four to go, they were going to sneak attack him. Dylan beat them to the punch. The boy from 10 died of starvation and the girl from five caused her own death when she forgot to put out the fire when she slept. In total, Dylan had killed four people. He was a victor but it didn’t feel like he had won anything.

Now there he was, at this party, celebrating his murder of those children. He was all the buzz now, all the Capitol citizens flocking around him, some of the past Victors too. He just wanted to get away from it all but he knew that was easier said than done. Finally, he had managed to get passed the large crowd and got some food to eat. Lately, he had been feeling sick on the stomach and didn’t think he could eat but now he was starving. Also, he went to the bar that was set up for drinks and got himself a couple strong cocktails.

It didn’t take a genius to figure out that the blank look on his face was correlating to the past events of the last month and the Games and the aftermath, but he knew he would have to live with it and keep going. After having eaten his meal and finished his drink, he put the tray and the food away before going back to the bar. There, he spotted a nice looking woman, whom he recognized as the Victor about four years ago from District 6, Ana. He hadn’t seen her around that much at the party and she seemed like she was trying to stay away from everyone too. Standing beside of her, he was ordering his drink and glancing at her for a brief moment, greeting her with a nod before turning back to get his drink.

 

[AsianPsuedonym]

Ana watched the merriment from her spot at the bar. She had downed two martinis and some blue looking drink while there and was currently getting one of the capital designer drinks when this year's victor came up to the bar. She looked at him for a moment pondering over his down trodden expression. She knew what it felt like to be in his shoes, the blood on your hands, feeling overwhelmed at these stupid parties. She smiled a bit as she approched him, cooly and calmy her blue eyes flashing with mild amusement. "Why so pouty newbie? You just won, live it up a little, there plenty of time for guilt and self loathing later." She said a very obvious hint of sarcasm in her voice. She sighed then and shook her head as she leaned against the bar. She glanced at him for a moment before turning to the man working the bar "Hey, get this kid something stronger than champagne" she called out to the bartender and at his nod she smiled and turned back to Dylan. "You know it's not your fault right?" she asked him.

"I mean yeah, they died at your hands, but you did it to survive, to stay alive...." she said. She looked at him and gave him a soft smile then. "Analise Erden, but you probably know that. The same way I know you're Dylan." She shook her head a little at her own joke. She shook his hand gently not at all what you would expect with someone with a reputation like hers. "Just wait though, this stupid carnival ride gets better." She said with a sigh "Years of this to come, you'll become a mentor and watch children from your district die. Then you'll go to whatever party they had to celebrate more kids dying. I've only been here for four years and I'm starting to loose it, it's no wonder all the other mentors for my district are hopped up on morphlin." She seemed a bit rueful about this.

When the bartender finally slid Dylan's drink over Ana smiled. "Did you drink much before this?" she asked handing him the tumbler with a clear liquid in it. It was a favorite drink of the capitallees as it had a few other substances in it besides alcohol. "This things pack a punch, I still have to hold my breath when I shoot them, but whatever they put in it? It helps, let loose be a little less guilt ridden for as long as the buzz lasts." She said "The capitalles love this stuff cause it makes them all happier than they already are." She said with a laugh before clinking her glass against his and knocking back the shot. Thankfully Ana wasn't a light weight but she had a pleasant warmth through her and less of a desire to be depressed now.

 

[randomname98766789]

"Yeah, live it up." He muttered, gesturing to the food and drinks along the way. He didn't understand it at all, how they could have so many drinks and so much food to choose from, eat it all and then throw it up just to eat some more. It was truly sickening and Dylan didn't think he could be that way. Instead, he just got something to drink and something minor to eat. "Yeah, I know it's not my fault, that doesn't make it any easier, though. If I had to go back, I would do it again, I know that I would but it just bothers me at night, you know? I think about their families and what a terrible situation they must be going through... I don't like having this party for me, I just want to go home and sleep and not worry about anything for ten minutes." He said with a shrug, knowing that he will be mentoring the games soon, so of course, he had to just bear with hit.

"I didn't drink much at all before." He answered with a nod, taking a quick sip, downing half the glass once they had clinked their glasses together. "What about you, Analise? Were you a big drinker before this?" He asked curiously, taking his glass and setting it down on the counter as he watched her, keeping eye contact throughout the conversation. "How do you deal with all this?" He asked, gesturing to the entire set up in general. Maybe it was impossible to deal with but he just wanted any tips or advice that she had. He knew that everyone had a different coping method and eh wondered what hers would be like.

 

[AsianPsuedonym]

Analise shook her head. "Nope. Didn't have a drop of this kind of stuff till after the games. Things change though..." she said softly before picking up a glass of champagne from one of the traveling wait staff. "I never wanted anything to do with this side of being a victor, all I wanted was to get my mom help and to go to sleep peacefully at night, but not even the best of their booze takes care of that..." She said sadly as she sipped the champagne in her hand. "The games come around and you think your finally almost over it and your watching more kids little younger than you die. The memories and self loathing never quite seem to leave you." she sighed a bit then "I don't really deal with it, I kinda just bury and place my focus on trying to keep my tributes alive, keep my mom in her cushy house on the nice side of town."

"We all had something in the games to fight for, I think that's what makes life bearable when everything else seem to just be crushing, whatever it was you fought for in the games? Embrace it now, throw yourself into that whole heartedly, I know making such my mother got the help she need is the only reason I'm sane and not and addict myself..." She said, it was well know through the district that morphlin was a problem in District 6 but it certainly wasn't what people talked about in their social circles .

"So what was your reason to fight in the games, what kept you going Dylan?" She asked him. "And if you had no real reason, I suggest you have another drink, honestly, even if you do have a good reason, I would still suggest you get used to alcohol and sleeping pills, they will be your best friends...." she said a sad laugh escaping her lips at the thought.

 

[randomname98766789]

“My parents and my entire family had always struggled.” He began, still leaning against the counter. “They had to work so long, make so many sacrifices, and just do things they shouldn’t have to do in order to make ends meet… I wanted to help them through that. I hoped by winning and fighting through the games that I could give them all nice houses, that they wouldn’t have to worry about money… and so far they are doing fine but I’m not doing good at all. I was also glad to see my friends again but I only got to speak to them once since the games were over. It’s like being a prisoner with all these rules and schedules and parties… I don’t like it all that much.”

Dylan got his glass refilled with the strong mixed drink again as he continued to speak to Analise. She seemed like a nice enough woman, she really was the most sane person that he’d spoken to in a long while. He actually enjoyed her presence and was glad that the Capitol citizens had been unable to find him lately. As much as he hated the Capitol, the citizens, and what they stood for, he knew that he couldn’t speak out against them. Even with being a victor, they would still find a way to damage his life by any means.

“So, what were you doing here all alone, Ana?” He asked, tilting his head and looking down at her, his eyes locking onto hers as he finally was smiling a bit, probably for the first time since the games. It was something about her that made him feel warmth inside and he couldn’t stop the smile even if he tried.

 

[AsianPsuedonym]

Ana gave a laugh at his question before shrugging. “What do you think I’m doing?” she said before dropping her voice to a low whisper “I’m hiding from all the stupid people, you know I happen to be quite a popular victor?” she said before pulling back and let out a soft peal of laughter. “These people thrive and survive off the death of young kids, and they love my story. The girl who overcame her odds” she shook her head “Honestly I just can’t wait until I’m older and everyone forgets about my games, maybe then without all these capitolees reminding me I can start to forget, but until then, I drink and I hide in a corner and avoid them at all these dumb parties.”

“Most of the Career victors love these things but there’s so many of them who are victors that the capitolees get bored of them.” She shook her head then “So they turn to the lower district winners for excitement, for their entertainment. Most of the winner’s from the lower district share my opinions but a lot of them are older, you know District 8 hasn’t had a victor in over 20 years? Josie Ruller I think is that old lady’s name, she’s our age, has a couple of kids back home. They still make her come to these stupid things sometimes. She just goes to the bathroom and hides most of the time”

“Me, I’m too new of a victor to not make an appearance, I tried once you know? To defy Snow and not come to one of these things, he threatened to take my mother and put her back into the nut house….” She shook her head “We have a lot of years to come going to these events. You’ll be very popular this year, the new victors always are, there are victory tours and parties and then before you know it, it’s game time again, and you’re watching kids from you district die.” She frowned

“I rooted for you though, being in the top 4. I hate seeing District 1&2 win every year, the victors are usually jerks anyway. Siril? He won last year’s games and he’s just a mean person, there’s a reason why he won.”