I know there’s nothing left worth staying for

[actually112]

Who| Aang and Open
What| Aang is putting origami things fucking everywhere. This is the best way to handle feelings.
Where| All the Districts except D4.
When| Post interviews
Warnings/Notes| Self-prescribed art therapy.

Origami everywhere.

On the counters, the tables, on the backs of chairs, everywhere. Cranes, flowers, owls, dragons, swans, weird six-legged bison things, bow ties, all kinds of origami. They're placed around quickly and quietly and all at once, so a person can go into their room for five minutes just to come out and see their District covered.

If they're really quick on the draw, they may see a little boy with arrow tattoos placing the last of them. They're more likely to see the boy before he puts the origami everywhere, when he's hidden on top of the fridge and working on folding all his origami. He's just out of sight enough to be hard to spot if one isn't looking, but occasionally a little pale foot with an arrow tattoo dangling over the edge, either while he's working on folding or when he's taking a fitful nap.

Comments

[ka_sera_sera]

Roland recognizes the little foot immediately. He'd expect to see it in their own shared floor, though, rather than the twelfth one, and though he'd been on his way out this is just odd enough that he can spend a moment on it.

"Aang," Roland calls, making his way through the kitchen and closer to him. "Run out of places to sleep in four?"

[actually112]

Aang stirs, one hand on a half-finished paper turtle, before peeking over the edge of the fridge at Roland. He pulls his knees up to his chin and braces himself on his elbows.

"I don't think they really want me there."

Kurloz tried to attack him. Derek looked pretty close to attacking him too.

[ka_sera_sera]

"Oh?" Roland leans on a nearby counter, looking up at Aang and noting the solemn look of him. "'They'? Did they tell you why?"

He has his suspicions, of course, but it'll be best to hear Aang out before making any assumptions.

[actually112]

"Uh, not really, but I'm pretty sure that it has something to do with me getting a member of Kurloz's family in the Reaping pool."

At least that's Aang's assumption, considering the fact that Kurloz would have probably tried to kill him if Derek hadn't grabbed him at the last minute.

"I didn't really ask too many questions before I left." Because really, it looked like they were fit to kill him.

[ka_sera_sera]

"Surely no one believes that was truly your idea?" Roland notes, briefly, that for all the talk the stylist gave him of the fine long tradition of these arenas, the honor in them, he doesn't seem to feel that way now. Then he shakes his head. "Or maybe that doesn't matter to them. Is there anything you'd like me to get you from your rooms? If you're going to hide out from him you may have to keep doing it a while."

[justoutrunyou]

Sandy's a sharp eye if there ever was one, and while she's surprised to see Aang in her district she can see the reasoning behind it even if she doesn't know what he's doing. Her height prevents her from getting more then the top of his shiny head in sight.

Still it makes sense, she wouldn't want to hang around his district either if she was the one behind that display. At least in District 12 they were more understanding...or at least willing to avoid talking about it.

Shuffling over to the fridge in her paint stained shirt with the words "Sister of Sand" on it she opened the fridge and procured a cup of mixed fruit, hesitating before she called up "Hey you want a snack or a drink up there?"

[actually112]

Aang glances down from his place on top of the fridge, currently in the process of folding a swan. It's nice to see Sandy. It's selfish, but it's comforting to see other people who worked with him on this, even if he wasn't entirely honest about his intentions (and he can never be honest about his intentions until they're not under surveillance).

"Thanks, Sandy. Is there another fruit cup?"

As he talks, he leans down and puts an origami flower on her head. He feels awful, but he has to try to buck up a little bit if he wants to make up for what he's done. He has to take care of himself enough to do well in the arena and take care of the District 3 Tribute.

[justoutrunyou]

She blushes at the flower placed on her head but ignores her instinct to brush it away. She can feel pretty for a moment it won't hurt. She finds a fruit cup and holds it up but her short stature doesn't quite reach the top of the fridge so she rises up onto her toes to push another inch out of her body.

"Mixed fruit cup soaking in syrup." She reported and then added "If anyone asks, I paid for that already."

Signless had been stocking the fridge for his tributes and Sandy didn't think he would mind her supporting Aang, but better safe then sorry.

[actually112]

Luckily, Aang's long arms make up for her lack of height. He takes the cup with a warm smile. "Thanks, Sandy." He thinks Signless would probably be okay with it too, but he doesn't want to get Sandy in any more trouble than she's already in just in case.

"I was kicked out of my District, so I'm hanging out in everyone else's." Well, 'kicked out' is a generous word. More like 'he ran out because staying would probably mean imminent death by beating.' "Is, uh... are you okay?" He hopes that she's not in a similar amount of trouble with her District. He feels bad that he wasn't entirely honest about his intentions when he roped the other kids into it, but any attempt at honesty would have tipped off the Capitol, so he couldn't. He still can't, even now.

[justoutrunyou]

Sandy snorted in the most sympathetic way possible "I've never heard of someone getting kicked out of their district before. Your mentor must be a real tool."

As for herself she shrugged and glanced over her shoulder to see if anyone was nearby, not that it mattered much she knew the place was bugged.

"I've been in worse trouble. The staff here seems pretty fine with just letting me deal with it. My sponsors haven't pulled out though the hoverbike guys asked that maybe I lay low for a week or so." She sighed "But yeah...like I said. I've had worse. It's not like that time we all got arrested." Still by far one of her least favorite memories in the Capitol. Especially because it was her fault that everyone else got dragged into it more or less.

[decommission]

The interviews were... something. Steve had left the whole thing rattled, and trying to hide the fact that he was rattled by keeping to himself - easy when he still hasn't made an effort to get to know too many of the folks around here.

When he makes it up to District 9's floor he heads to the cabinets for some of the food he's stored (canned, everything he buys is canned so far). The little foot poking out from the fridge catches his eye pretty quick, and he stops before even opening the drawer for a can opener.

"Aang?"

[actually112]

Aang was in the middle of folding little origami flowers when he hears Steve's voice. There's something soothing about it, maybe because he just associates it with all the other grown men who look out for him. He draws in his foot and peers over the edge, bearing a green origami flower.

"Hey."

He's down, but he does his best to not look too down. He can't allow himself to mope if he wants to be ready to protect the Districters in the arena, so he's doing the origami to burn all his energy and express his feelings as much as he can without falling into a pit.

"Want a flower?" He offers the folded flower. He tries to smile, but it's not as bright as normal. "Green would look good in your hair."

[decommission]

His gaze flickers from the flower to Aang's somber (for him) expression, then back again. He might not have a full grasp of the situation, but he can hazard a guess why Aang might be feeling down. His head cants to one side, considering the paper flower.

"You think?" There's something purposely light in his tone - accepting that there is something heavier in the air that he hasn't yet been invited to touch. He plucks the gift from Aang's palm, holding it between his own hands with care as he eyes it closer. "You making them for everyone?"

[actually112]

"Just the people who ask. Or the people who look like they need one." And this Steve always looks like he could use some flowers. Aang looks down at his hands, where he's folding something new. "Green goes well with yellow, so it'd look good in your hair." And it'd be a break from the weird red/white/blue color scheme everyone seems to like putting Steves in, but Aang's not sure if that was just the last one or something that stretches over all Steves.

"I can make other things. Animals and stuff like that. It's just that people can't wear animals so easily." He focuses on making his corners sharp. The paper makes soft rustling sounds as he moves it. He appreciates how Steve humors him--a lot of people are mad at him right now, and he just wants a moment where he can give people little gifts and banter and not concentrate on the fact that he's sent someone to die.

[decommission]

He hums under his breath in response, seemingly involved in looking over the folds of the flower in his hand. This Steve hasn't worn red, white and blue in decades - even the shield they'd fished up out of the ice with him had mostly been set in storage. His uniform had been black and they'd given him knives, guns, or left him with his fists.

"Could you show me how to make this?" Steve tips the flower, eyebrow furrowing again.

[shiftingurbulls]

There's at least one other District 4 Tribute that felt the demonstation wasn't so bad that it merited the response it got...and there is a scared young man running around making origami cranes in District 5. While it's no secret that Ellis is dating Nick from this floor, his own thoughts about the demonstrations and the fallout were. Snow went too far and took kids from the Capitol to make his point. It felt...familiar in a sense, a military regime that tried to control chaos. But he's seen far too many movies and this reaction will not be civil.

"Hey kiddo," El tries to be as jolly but the interviews...they destroyed his self-imposed ignorance. "Been busy, huh?"

[actually112]

Aang is in the middle of putting the last pieces of origami down in District 5 when he hears El talking. He jerks in surprise, but then he finishes arranging paper flowers on the sink. "Yeah, pretty busy."

Aang avoids eye contact because he's not sure who in District 4 supports him and who is hoping he stays dead after the next arena. "I just wanted to put some color around here."

[shiftingurbulls]

"I'd say y'did a good job, kiddo," Ellis complimented, then offered Aang a comforting smile, "I thought your display was a bit bold but, uh, well, due to the dead y'know?"

It's strange for him to say this, as his homeworld was littered with piles of dead Infected...but it never really came close to complete disregard. His way of telling Aang to relax, he wasn't on that other side of the District they belonged to.

[actually112]

Aang does relax a little bit. His shoulders loosen up because he doesn't have to be worried about Ellis attacking him. "I don't know why everyone got so mad," he lies easily. It's simple to repeat his lie over and over. "I thought we were supposed to celebrate the Games."

[shiftingurbulls]

Ellis believed Aang when he spoke and he merely sighed, "Maybe some people didn't like to have their fallen brought up. Though I can see where you came from, celebrate the happy with the sad. It's part o' Panem's history, right? Maybe they saw it in bad taste."

He was pretty sure that was it, "Have y'all talked to our D4 friend? Mollusc?" He wondered why they weren't allowed to interact with the reaped children but he figures it's the formalities and differences. "I'm ramblin', don't mind me."

[needlebearer]

Arya was more than a little confused when she saw the brightly coloured paper shapes around, but when her curiosity gets the better of her and she goes to investigate, she finds herself holding a perfectly formed, majestic looking origami wolf. She feels her heart clench inside her chest, and her expression is somewhere between irritation and despair as she throws it as far away from her as she can.

"Is that meant to be some kind of joke?"

[actually112]

Aang is dozing on the top of the fridge now. The sound of Arya's voice jars him out of it--and he's not sure if it's a welcome voice or not, because she may or may not be angry at him for asking her to do the demonstration with him.

He peers over the edge of the fridge, settling his chin on his hands and frowning at her. She doesn't seem to like one of his wolf origami. She seems to dislike it enough to throw it, actually.

"What's wrong with it?"

It can't be about bad folding or something. People don't throw things like that because they don't look nice.

[needlebearer]

She clenches her fists tightly, looking accusingly up at Aang as he looks bewildered back down at her. After a couple of seconds she allows herself to calm down a little, she accepts that maybe he didn't see the ridiculous exposé the Capitol did about her a few weeks ago, that maybe this actually isn't intended as anything against her.

"The Direwolf is the sigil of my House. Back home."

[actually112]

Aang's expose was the very first one. After seeing what they did with his history, he made a concentrated to not watch anyone else's. He didn't want to invade anyone's privacy the way he felt like his was invaded.

"I don't know what a direwolf is." He puts his chin in his hands and a little understanding comes to his face. She thought he was trying to say something about her, maybe? "We don't even have wolves where I come from, but I figured out how to make them out of origami since I came here. I'm sorry you didn't like it."

[needlebearer]

Arya doesn't want to admit how homesick she feels, and that seeing her family's symbol just reinforces to her that there isn't a home to go back to any more. She knows she should apologise for her reaction, but her pride won't let her do that either. Instead she goes and fetches the wolf back from where she'd thrown it, placing it on the table and poking at it to iron out a wrinkle. "You've made it very well," she says eventually.