What He Wouldn't Give To Be Invisible

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Who | Lyle Norg and Eddie Dean
What | Oh grife, why don't the fans have warning klaxons?
Where | Out and about in the Capitol
When | Before the "Thicker Than Blood" plot
Warnings/Notes | Language, further warnings TBD

In Lyle's defense, he'd thought he was used to celebrity culture. He'd been the metaphorical golden boy among his class at the Black Hole, and then he'd been a Legionnaire and had actually been required to give interviews. But he'd handled it pretty well, and continued to handle it throughout his tenure as Legion leader.

He'd just briefly forgotten (no, he hadn't forgotten, he'd deliberately blocked it out for the sake of his own mental well-being) that the sentients in the Capitol were sprocking insane. And then he'd left the Tribute Center without remembering to unforget.

Which was ultimately how he'd ended up pelting through a crowded street, trying his best to lose a pack of teenagers screaming his name -- among other, less savory things.

He glanced behind for a split second, just to see if he was putting some distance between his "luscious butt" and his pursuit, and promptly collided with another pedestrian.

Comments

[wiredup]

Eddie knew this scene, and damn if he didn't feel bad for the kid.

Because Eddie himself was clearly such a wise, worldly adult, he decided he was going to help Lyle out. He'd been there, and he knew that there were certain tricks to losing Capitolites.

"Come on, doubling back usually does the trick." He said, hooking his arm in Lyle's and tugging him down the nearest alley. "Even if they loose sight, they just keep going forward."

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The sentient Lyle had collided with could have been a supervillain or worse, but Lyle was reasonably sure that letting him lead him down an alley wasn't the worst decision he'd made today. Besides, this sentient didn't look like a twenty-first century piece of art had vomited on him, so he was probably one of the mentors or something rather than a Capitol citizen.

"Oh good, I was worried that they might have honed stalking to an art form here," he answered, keeping pace and trying to remember where he'd seen this sentient before.

[wiredup]

"There's a few. But those ones don't mob."

It was a joke, and Eddie did laugh, but it was also a warning, and anyone who'd stepped foot outside the tribute tower knew it.

He lead him down one alley, turned down another, and then dipped into a cafe, letting the door click closed behind them.

"I think they might be thoroughly ditched. Eddie Dean, by the way." He offered his hand, with a cocky grin.

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Lyle chuckled as well, but also nodded seriously. Message received and acknowledged.

"Lyle Norg," he said, taking Eddie's proffered hand and giving it a firm shake. "Pleasure's mine. You a mentor around here, or just enjoy thwarting the will of teenagers?"

He wondered if anything in this cafe was vegan-friendly. Or, dare he hope, written down in French instead of English.

[wiredup]

"You know, a little of column a, a little of column b..." He lifted his hands, see sawing them to mimicking the weighing of those two choices, before giving Lyle another grin.

"I'm the mentor for District 3. One of them. Old school style."

Since they had some who were not, it seemed a relevant distinction to make.

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"Yeah?" Lyle asked, raising his eyebrows both in surprise and interest. A survivor of the Games back when it had meant the deaths of twenty-three other scared kids; but one who'd gone out of his way to rescue someone, even if it had been from harassment rather than death.

"I'm honored. I got the impression the native mentors didn’t think much of us newbies."

It could have just been that the sentients who’d grown up in District 10 didn't care for the supervillain who didn’t eat animals products, but Eddie seemed much, much friendlier. Lyle gave him a smile and gestured toward the counter. "Buy you a drink as thanks?"

Lyle preferred to avoid using the credit card the Capitol had given him -- a card with an undefined limit wasn't 'credit', it was a trap. But hey, stick around, Eddie. Share some info.

[wiredup]

He shrugged, thoughts drifting to District 1.

"Honestly? Some don't. Though to be fair, some don't because they know all this is bullshit."

He didn't elaborate on what 'this' was, because honestly, ears were everywhere. Still, Lyle seemed more than capable of figuring it out.

"I figure we're all in a shitty boat together, we might as well help each other out. And hey, at least a pack of 13 years old is safer now."

It's said jokingly, but it's not hard to see there not a joke there. It doesn't take many games as a mentor to learn to loathe it, after all.