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i. artifice
✦ ✧ ✦
a trick played out as an ingenious, but artful, ruse

vangelis abello
twenty-four / / a.s.s.h.o.l.e.
—

Karystos Vane should really get better at holding his liquor considering he's one of the Head Gamemakers.

It's probably not the wisest thing in the world to be grabbing drinks with one their pseudo mothers' most important subservients, but since when has Vangelis been the type to give a fuck? Arisa and Senna – well mainly Senna – basically gave them free reign to stir shit with whoever they so desire, so why not take Mr. Head Gamemaker out for the night?

He happens to have good taste in bars — Vangelis has never been to Minx before, but they definitely are going to have to come back another time. The place is illuminated with their favorite shade of neon green and most of the people are wearing pitch black as they dance to the beat of the DJ's techno music.

Unfortunately, Karystos has hardly said anything remotely interesting, just complaining about Ulesi, but that's nothing new. They always claim to hate their co-Head Gamemaker even though they do phenomenal work together. Not only that, Vangelis has spotted the two of them taking the same car home from official meetings and various other gatherings. If there's something gay going on between the two of them, it might as well be the worst kept secret in the Capitol.

"Get this – he also smells terrible!" Karystos slams his clear beer stein down on the table with an obnoxious clanging sound, their knuckles white against the handle. "Whenever I see him in the morning, I have to spray him down with cologne or else I can't even speak to him. And then he complains that he doesn't want to smell like me, so I had to get him his own cologne that he can't even put on himself."

"Do you think maybe Ulesi likes it when you spray him with cologne?" Vangelis waggles their eyebrows.

"Probably not, he's a complete ass." He bops his head from side to side, spinning around in his seat a little.

"Yeah, he sure sounds like one."

Karystos probably thinks Vangelis is a dumbass, hence why he's telling them all of this. Little does he know that they're not entirely a dumbass. They just need to "apply themself more" as their teachers at university often said. Senna said that they're doing a perfectly good job though, and considering she's married to the most important person in the country, her opinion matters most.

It's worth testing the waters and seeing what else they can get Karystos to tell them, though. The early reapings for this year's Games are just two months away. Vangelis can't lie, when they found out the Quell twist, they were absolutely mind blown. Six whole months of pre-Games? Oh, there's got to be a lot of exciting shit going down.

"He's also trying to dictate things for the Quell," Karystos says as if he's been reading their mind.

Vangelis smirks. "How so?"

"He wants to take it seriously."

"Are the Hunger Games not meant to be serious?"

"Well yes, but—" Karystos loudly sighs. "I don't like his approach. I don't like it at all."

"Mind telling me what it is then?"

"Ulesi thinks that the Tributes should spend all six months training." He takes a sip of his drink and shakes their head. "That's it, Vangie. He wants to stretch out what's usually three days of the tributes fucking around and pretending to learn something into six entire months."

"That does sound boring."

"Exactly! He really thinks the whole country is going to enjoy that." Vangelis notices somebody get out of their seat and gasp, probably because they recognize Karystos and there's no good reason he should be in the club. "He's out of his damn mind, I'm telling you."

They make a good point, the Games really have been falling off these past few years. Cordura from the ninety-seventh was a fun change of pace since she's from Eight, but Raptor from a few months ago, and Vanya last year were just… predictable. They know that their mothers would shank them for admitting this out loud, but the trained victors get repetitive quick. Maybe six months of training would realistically give somebody else a chance, but who are they kidding, it'd be boring as hell to watch.

Vangelis presses their lips into a line and starts to hum to the beat of the song being played. "I assume you have a better idea then," they sing, perfectly in time for the beat to drop.

"I'm tinkering a bit." Karystos' face turns red. "There's definitely a way to turn six months into something fun."

"You could make it like… a TV show or something," they suggest. "Last year, Senna wanted to make a show called 'Keeping Up With The Hirohitos' about our family, but Arisa shut that down pretty quick. Point is though, if you treated the tributes like they're on a reality show, I know people would eat that shit up."

"I was actually thinking of something similar."

Well, isn't that lovely? Vangelis is used to always getting everything they want, but this has got to be an all time high. They're going to need a shot to celebrate this in a bit. "Do you, perchance, need any help in coming up with any of the events the tributes will be partaking in?"

"I'm set — there's fifteen gamemakers besides Ulesi and I, and I know they'll come up with some great ideas."

"Oh, you're no fun." Vangelis is well aware that it's their own fault for flopping at university and that otherwise they'd maybe have a chance at being in the gamemaking room, but like still. They're kind of perfect for this Quell. It kind of needs them. "Do you think you'll at least need help convincing Ulesi to get his head out of his ass and have some fun?"

"Not from you. You don't know him the way I know him."

"The way you phrased that is a bit fruity," they mutter, hoping the music eats up their words.

Alas, it doesn't. "What? Why would you even imply that?"

"I'm just messing with you." Vangelis snickers. "However, based on that reaction, I think you might just have a little crush on him."

"How could I have a crush on somebody as obnoxious and intolerable as him?" Karystos chugs the rest of his drink and stands up, swaying their hips from side to side. "I need some more of this."

"I see, I see. You're getting yourself all loosened up for the next time you see Ulesi."

He growls, which just makes Vangelis laugh harder. "You're such a little asshole, you know that?"

"Damn right I am." It's literally their job title — Assistant Social Secretary and Head of Light Entertainment. They've been in this role for five years and still have no idea what their actual responsibilities are, but that's probably because they don't exist.

Once Karystos is lost to the sea of neon green and well-dressed hipsters, Vangelis whispers to themself, "I wonder if Ulesi knows anything about his little asshole."

—

They walk through the presidential manor with their usual skip in their step. Being here will never not be a miracle. Truly, this place is everything Vangelis used to dream about back when they were in their poverty era. Between the molded clay decorations on the walls and the chandeliers dangling from the ceiling this is without a doubt the height of luxury.

Sometimes they think it's a bit dated for their taste still. The dull colors and tacky wallpaper patterns are giving old-money. If this were Vangelis' own property, everything would be sleek and made out of metal and there would be lots of green accents, so actually it would look a lot like the bar they were just at.

Whatever! They can't really complain about living in the nicest house in the whole country.

The maids and butlers have retired to their quarters for the night which means it's almost dead silent. In fact, they'd probably think they were entirely alone if it weren't for the crack of light coming from one of the lounges downstairs.

Vangelis tiptoes toward the door, their steps muted by the plush gray carpet and their mothers' familiar voices filling their ears. They have no idea what the two of them are talking about, much less any specific words, so they knock on the maroon wooden door.

"Who's there?" They hear Senna shout. "I'm kind of busy."

"No you're not," Vangelis says. "It's me."

"Oh, well you can come in then," Arisa replies.

They swing the door open and see their mothers cuddled together on one of the black leather couches. How adorable; Vangelis is actually kind of jealous. It always amuses them to see Arisa like this. She's usually so serious and presidential but whenever she's around Senna, she instantly folds. She's never been the most expressive in Vangelis' time knowing her either, so they know that her slight smile is worth more than a thousand words.

"Hey moms!" They take a seat next to them on the couch, almost being swallowed by its soft pillows. "You'll never guess who I went out for drinks with!"

Senna furrows her brows. "You know we don't like being called 'mom.' It makes me feel like an old hag."

"There's no point in being adopted if I can't call y'all 'mom'."

"Well sure, but you never hear us calling you 'child'."

"That's because that'd be fucking weird. I don't see how this is such a big deal when so many people say that you're 'mother'."

"They make a point," Arisa admits.

"I usually do."

"Let's not go that far."

Senna giggles. "Do tell us though, who did you go out with?"

"This is going to sound crazy but…" Vangelis says. "I was at the club with the Karystos Vane."

"That's actually not crazy at all. They go out drinking with anybody who breathes air. He's an alcoholic, you know."

"That actually makes a lot of sense."

"What are you getting at?"

"He's a bit… unruly, for lack of a better word." They watch a smile start to form on Senna's face. "I mean it in a good way too! Ulesi is being stern but they have all sorts of dope ideas for the Quell and I think they should have it their way."

Arisa twitches. "What is Karystos thinking about?" She seems frustrated, which is typical for her when people try to talk about the Games around her. Her discontempt isn't necessarily a bad thing; she just has a very specific idea of what the Games should look like, and it's not very innovative.

It's been fine in the past, but similar to Vangelis, so many of their friends are kind of getting bored.

"First of all, I think Senna, you're going to love this." If Senna agrees to something first, there's a high chance Arisa will agree to it later — Vangelis knows this all too well considering their very presence in this house was initially Senna's idea. She needed a little buddy because Arisa was sometimes too busy running a country, and honestly they can't blame her.

"I'm sure I will," she says.

"He wants to turn the six month period before the Games into a reality show!"

"How is that different from normal? Are the games not the tributes' reality?" Arisa rolls her eyes.

Senna playfully shoves her. "No, what they mean is that these Games are going to be fun! Like that show about us would've been!"

"It would not have been fun, it would have been invasive. The Hunger Games are not meant to be fun; they're meant to be a reminder to the districts of the cost that comes with rebelling against us."

"Okay, well people are starting to think they're boring again," Vangelis says. "Like Raptor's games were exhausting to watch and it was even worse when he was knocked out for like a month so we couldn't even do any real parties or anything. Six months of training has the potential to be even more boring."

"Who is 'people?'" Arisa crosses her arms but Senna can't stop laughing, using one of the couch pillows to muffle the sound.

"Like… me and my friends. Y'know, the next generation of this country?"

"That's because you don't remember the war. You don't remember what the rebels did to our country and why they don't deserve something entertaining."

"Don't you think there's less of a chance of another war if we turn the Games into something fun and cool?"

"Hmmph." Arisa sighs defeatedly.

"You were right, Vangelis!" Senna claps. "I think this is the best idea ever. Oh, there's going to be so much good drama. We're going to have the most fun ever."

"I know right, It's going to be so good if Ulesi agrees to it." Vangelis sticks their tongue out and cackles.

"If only Madame Grumpy Pants also thought it was a good idea..."

"I'll consider."

"You'll work on her, won't you." They wink at Senna.

"Absolutely."

And that means that Vangelis Abello will once again get their way. Ugh, suffering from success can be so tiring at times, but not tiring enough that it's a bad thing.

If only they could scam their way into the gamemaker's room…

Hello LGBTQ+ community!

I am writing another SYOT. This is the sixth one now. I need to be shot.

If you want to submit, you can find the information at tinyurl dot com slash sempervigilantes or on my profile. I'm planning on making this a full with 26 Tributes (D13 slayyyy) so don't be afraid to send me your spawn. Basically everything else that needs to be said is on the document along worldbuilding bc there is An Amount ™ but also don't let that scare you. I am so nice and flexible.

I'll start the chapter questions once subs are done and I no longer need to pretend I'm normal so people want to submit to me. There are four more prologues after this one if you even care.

Thank you Erik for beta-ing with only 9.5 fingers.

Thank you for reading this and I hope you send me something I can kill. Give me a review if you feel like it. If not that's okay, I'd rather you give me something to kill. There's a 99% chance this is your last opportunity.

Linds. Laugh. Love.