Originally Posted by Jezabel Black

Pax tore his eyes away from the laughing Peacekeeper, his wary eyes moving from the boy, Matthias, and Celeste and back again. Slowly he relaxed into a less aggressive pose, and shook Matthias' hand. "Pax Darcy, District 8. And if you really don't want to be here as much as me, you'd be climbing the walls too." He smiled resignedly, rubbing his injured shoulder. "I don't know about winning," he said. "But I do want to get home." He bit his lip for a moment as the image of his dad's face crossed his mind. "See my dad again. And my stepmother, half siblings. Maybe not my stepbrother," he added with a small laugh. Pax was starting to relax a little bit, getting back into his usually high-spirited mood. "At least I've kind of trained for this," he mused. "Fighting Hekili all the time really pays off in the long run, I suppose." He grinned at the other two. "You two ready to put on a show?"

Originally Posted by keepmeclose22

Jason saw a group of kids talking together and thought it would be best to make some friends. He couldn't get very far on his own. He knew that. He walked up to one of the boys, hands in his pockets, and an expressionless face. "Hey. Jason Jackson. District 4." The way he said that, might come off as rude, but Jason wasn't big on meeting new people. He was used to being off to himself. But he knew he needed someone to count on, at least for the first couple days of the games.

He wasn't nervous at all. He never really cared what others thought of him, so meeting new people wasn't hard for him. And he figured out he didn't have to like them. Everyone loved him, and most of them never really cared what he thought. As long as they were standing next to him, they were happy.

Originally Posted by EastonionNW

Matthias laughed at Pax's greeting. "Oh, so you've trained? I, as you can probably see--" he gestured down at himself "--am unprepared. I bet you'd make it home far before I did. The odds are definitely in your favor, I can tell. Me on the other hand?" he said, shaking his head and looking around a bit. The air seemed more relaxed than Matthias had always thought it would be for the tributes before the Games. I guess everyone just accepts it. he thought, turning around at the sound of another new voice. Immediately he stuck a hand to the boy who had just joined them. "Matthias Johnson, District 3," he greeted. With a quick smile and a small nod along with the handshake, Matthias took a step back and looked at the other three that were grouped with him. "So, what do you all say to being allies in the Arena, at least for as long as it lasts?" Someone had to say it.