[Haymitch is incredibly valid. The question's less valid given the way Junpei sort of rolls right over it with a shrug.]
Been busy. [Sometimes you just give up on sleeping entirely. Also I've been told Dick maybe came back kind of drunk thanks to someone and ergo Junpei was on babysitting duty for a bat.] I was going over more of my notes and trying to figure out transcripts. Stuff people've told me. [...] Plus stuff disappeared from our room on Sunday so figured it'd be worth staying up to see if they tried anything else.
[He sits. There's a couple magazines nearby, glossy things that he doesn't pay attention to at first. There's a woman on the cover, bright-eyed and gaze slightly vacant, as various lines of text inform them that the articles within contain secrets beauty regimens and countless interviews that surely haven't been duplicated elsewhere.]
[His expression falls flat and he more or less collapses in a nearby chair, folding up his limbs and pouting at the floor.]
Okay so maybe not. But! I'm making some interesting headway on some things. Got some new information, putting together a timeline and...this is not helping my case at all, is it.
[...whatever, he'll pick up one of the magazines and just start to flip through it.] I'm just glad I don't have to constantly dodge people anymore.
[He gets that far, anyway, before the barrier rises. And the memory that Junpei gets is--
Oh. It's nice, actually. A wedding. With with a bride who looks like she's going to cry she's so happy and a groom who still looks pleasantly stunned. With a woman standing next to Haymitch that he keeps glancing over towards, though she's paying attention to the ceremony and not him. And then dancing, fiddles teasing out tunes from better days in District 12, children and adults both dancing in familiar patterns. He doesn't dance, he can't, but that's all right. Just being here-- with her, with them, in this place that isn't home but feels like it in this moment-- is worth it.]
[...it's surprisingly nice, all things considered. It's kind of sweet that it's a wedding and he's going to take a few moments to familiarize himself with the faces. It's...happy.
Unfortunately for Haymitch, at the same time he gets something a little less that, confusion and bewilderment, the appearance of a beautiful girl, and...a motive that lasts until 32:35 sorry this is so long.]
Familiar, though, in a distant way. Nobody ever announced the Games quite like that to him. Instead: he learned it growing up. At his mother's side, hearing her voice quietly explaining the rules, telling him to look away, to go upstairs, that when he was older he'd watch them all--
But it doesn't matter. The details have never been their point of connection. He sees all that and he goes sick, his eyes squeezing shut for a long moment.]
At least I knew who fucked with me. Not some asshole on a speaker.
[Immediately he kind of hates everything because, haha, wow. For a moment he stares because he's not even sure how to respond, frozen in an uncertain kind of way while he bites his lip. He's...nervous, it seems, but he exhales softly.]
We eventually figured out who was responsible and got out of there. But it took a while. [...] Whose wedding was that? ["It looked nice" is implied even if it goes unsaid.]
[A pause. And then, reluctantly:] Her name's Akane.
[You know. The very cute girl who fell on top of him, and also his fianceé except this is Monday and Haymitch doesn't know about that yet ig. Haha. Timelines.]
Annie and Finnick. Two other Victors, both from the same district. He mentored her, and then he fell in love when she came home. They never thought they'd be able to get married, cuz--
[The thing about it is he listens a little more attentively than normal for something that isn't about survival. He watches Haymitch closely, absorbs the words and dissects them, picks them apart and for some reason the look on his face looks both equally soft and confused all at once.
Two people from similar backgrounds. A boy who helped a girl save her own life in his own way that fell in love when it was over. Familiar, isn't it.]
...they looked really happy. [It's what he settles on. He doesn't necessarily need to ask to understand that Haymitch's world is still kind of a mess.] But I guess weddings are supposed to be.
[But he also lifts his eyebrows just a little and whatever nostalgic gutpunch he had seems to disappear.] So who was the woman you were with?
. . . her name's Effie. We worked together a few years before the revolution. We got out at different times, reunited in the, uh, district over. A safe one.
[Is that really the whole story, my dude, I think the fuck not.]
[He pauses, not hesitating so much as gathering his words.]
She's kind of an idiot, actually. Real caught up in fashion and makeup and manners and all that crap. But when push came to shove she showed she had a brain under all that.
[...a complete opposite, then, from Haymitch himself but at the core similar enough. It's another concept he knows well and he nods quietly to himself.]
Yeah. I've got a few of those myself. Weird how we still care about them even knowing they're one step away from driving us crazy.
[He's going to 100% avoid talking about Akane for as long as he can because a.) it's awkward and b.) it's kind of painful with that memory still fresh in his head. So...he shakes his head.]
You know Carlos and I are from the same place, right? He's one of them. I only met him a few days before we were thrown into the Decision Game. And before that, all of the people you saw in that memory are people I had never met before in my life. I don't really keep in touch.
The big guy, Seven? I worked with him on a job blowing up a terrorist organization's headquarters a few months ago. But his methods aren't always things I agree with either.
[It's always odd, getting together with the other Victors. There's a sense of kinship, sure, but on the other hand, it's not like he'd ever willingly spend time with, say, Enobaria. It's a bizarre connection-- so no, honestly, he's not shocked that Junpei doesn't keep in touch with those in his Games.]
No, nothing like that. Everybody who was thrown into the game had signed up for a Mars mission test experiment. Everyone who was thrown into the Nonary Game were normal people. And the year in between I worked at a detective agency.
...well. [And here he looks a little tired because it's still not a happy answer.] Whenever Carlos and I get out of here, we have someone to find. If we don't, a nuclear war's gonna break out and wipe out eight billion people. It's the timeline we ended up with, so we're going to have to fight to stop it.
[...hah.] Guess that could be considered a rebel group in a way. ...there...are things I want after that. So we'll take care of that first and I'll get what I want when it's over.
[He knows the threat of nuclear war, and he knows there's not a goddamn thing he can say that'll comfort Junpei or help him on his journey. So might as well focus on things that might be good in the future, right?]
A future? [A wry sort of grin, because he knows that's probably not what Haymitch meant.] I don't know. I was kind of always promised that maybe I'd get to grow up and have a normal life with a wife and maybe kids or something. At the end of the day I think all I want is something permanent. Whatever that means.
[Fluid timelines make that a little harder some days.]
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2019-10-31 12:55 am (UTC)Been busy. [Sometimes you just give up on sleeping entirely. Also I've been told Dick maybe came back kind of drunk thanks to someone and ergo Junpei was on babysitting duty for a bat.] I was going over more of my notes and trying to figure out transcripts. Stuff people've told me. [...] Plus stuff disappeared from our room on Sunday so figured it'd be worth staying up to see if they tried anything else.
no subject
Date: 2019-10-31 01:44 am (UTC)[He sits. There's a couple magazines nearby, glossy things that he doesn't pay attention to at first. There's a woman on the cover, bright-eyed and gaze slightly vacant, as various lines of text inform them that the articles within contain secrets beauty regimens and countless interviews that surely haven't been duplicated elsewhere.]
Nice try, though.
no subject
Date: 2019-10-31 01:57 am (UTC)Okay so maybe not. But! I'm making some interesting headway on some things. Got some new information, putting together a timeline and...this is not helping my case at all, is it.
[...whatever, he'll pick up one of the magazines and just start to flip through it.] I'm just glad I don't have to constantly dodge people anymore.
no subject
Date: 2019-10-31 02:19 am (UTC)They'll leave you alone soon. I th--
[He gets that far, anyway, before the barrier rises. And the memory that Junpei gets is--
Oh. It's nice, actually. A wedding. With with a bride who looks like she's going to cry she's so happy and a groom who still looks pleasantly stunned. With a woman standing next to Haymitch that he keeps glancing over towards, though she's paying attention to the ceremony and not him. And then dancing, fiddles teasing out tunes from better days in District 12, children and adults both dancing in familiar patterns. He doesn't dance, he can't, but that's all right. Just being here-- with her, with them, in this place that isn't home but feels like it in this moment-- is worth it.]
no subject
Date: 2019-10-31 03:53 am (UTC)Unfortunately for Haymitch, at the same time he gets something a little less that, confusion and bewilderment, the appearance of a beautiful girl, and...a motive that lasts until 32:35 sorry this is so long.]
no subject
Date: 2019-11-01 05:59 am (UTC)Familiar, though, in a distant way. Nobody ever announced the Games quite like that to him. Instead: he learned it growing up. At his mother's side, hearing her voice quietly explaining the rules, telling him to look away, to go upstairs, that when he was older he'd watch them all--
But it doesn't matter. The details have never been their point of connection. He sees all that and he goes sick, his eyes squeezing shut for a long moment.]
At least I knew who fucked with me. Not some asshole on a speaker.
no subject
Date: 2019-11-01 06:17 am (UTC)We eventually figured out who was responsible and got out of there. But it took a while. [...] Whose wedding was that? ["It looked nice" is implied even if it goes unsaid.]
no subject
Date: 2019-11-01 06:25 am (UTC)[He'll answer in a second, but just-- one thing at a time. He's reeling more than he wants to say.]
no subject
Date: 2019-11-01 06:29 am (UTC)[You know. The very cute girl who fell on top of him, and also his fianceé except this is Monday and Haymitch doesn't know about that yet ig. Haha. Timelines.]
no subject
Date: 2019-11-01 06:30 am (UTC)[It's fine it's fine it's fine he'll be sadder on Monday.]
You ever find out why?
no subject
Date: 2019-11-01 06:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-11-01 06:40 am (UTC)[A beat, and then:]
Annie and Finnick. Two other Victors, both from the same district. He mentored her, and then he fell in love when she came home. They never thought they'd be able to get married, cuz--
[A beat, and he sighs.]
Anyway. Never mind why. The point is, they did.
no subject
Date: 2019-11-01 06:47 am (UTC)Two people from similar backgrounds. A boy who helped a girl save her own life in his own way that fell in love when it was over. Familiar, isn't it.]
...they looked really happy. [It's what he settles on. He doesn't necessarily need to ask to understand that Haymitch's world is still kind of a mess.] But I guess weddings are supposed to be.
[But he also lifts his eyebrows just a little and whatever nostalgic gutpunch he had seems to disappear.] So who was the woman you were with?
[He's not a moron, he remembers those glances.]
no subject
Date: 2019-11-01 07:09 am (UTC). . . her name's Effie. We worked together a few years before the revolution. We got out at different times, reunited in the, uh, district over. A safe one.
[Is that really the whole story, my dude, I think the fuck not.]
no subject
Date: 2019-11-01 11:23 am (UTC)So you were both retired by then, more or less. She seemed...important. ["To you" goes unsaid but it's clear that's what he's thinking.]
no subject
Date: 2019-11-02 02:27 am (UTC)[He pauses, not hesitating so much as gathering his words.]
She's kind of an idiot, actually. Real caught up in fashion and makeup and manners and all that crap. But when push came to shove she showed she had a brain under all that.
[. . .]
Kinda a love-hate thing.
no subject
Date: 2019-11-02 02:54 am (UTC)Yeah. I've got a few of those myself. Weird how we still care about them even knowing they're one step away from driving us crazy.
[An assumption, sure, but...maybe not.]
no subject
Date: 2019-11-02 03:37 am (UTC)You ain't kidding.
[. . .]
Tell me some of yours. [Because he wants to know more about his world, beyond the slightly awkward subject of that girl.]
no subject
Date: 2019-11-02 03:52 am (UTC)You know Carlos and I are from the same place, right? He's one of them. I only met him a few days before we were thrown into the Decision Game. And before that, all of the people you saw in that memory are people I had never met before in my life. I don't really keep in touch.
The big guy, Seven? I worked with him on a job blowing up a terrorist organization's headquarters a few months ago. But his methods aren't always things I agree with either.
no subject
Date: 2019-11-04 03:57 am (UTC)Well, well. You part of some rebel group or what?
no subject
Date: 2019-11-04 04:27 am (UTC)No, nothing like that. Everybody who was thrown into the game had signed up for a Mars mission test experiment. Everyone who was thrown into the Nonary Game were normal people. And the year in between I worked at a detective agency.
no subject
Date: 2019-11-05 04:00 am (UTC)[He's quiet, and then his voice goes slightly more quiet. Gentle, almost, or as gentle as he can make it.]
You think about what you're gonna do afterwards?
no subject
Date: 2019-11-05 04:14 am (UTC)[...hah.] Guess that could be considered a rebel group in a way. ...there...are things I want after that. So we'll take care of that first and I'll get what I want when it's over.
no subject
Date: 2019-11-06 03:39 am (UTC)[He knows the threat of nuclear war, and he knows there's not a goddamn thing he can say that'll comfort Junpei or help him on his journey. So might as well focus on things that might be good in the future, right?]
no subject
Date: 2019-11-06 03:56 am (UTC)[Fluid timelines make that a little harder some days.]