Prologue: House of Gold

"she asked me, son, when i grow old,

will you buy me a house of gold?

and when your father turns to stone

will you, take care of me?"

Cardoc "Card" Vaughn, 19.

Victor of the 38th Hunger Games.

Card turned, looking over his shoulder as his final ally, Sheen, leaped at him, sword raised high above her head. He dodged her strike and shoved his spear into her neck. Blood poured from the wound and Sheen gurgled her last breath, the cannon firing loudly. Card woke with a scream, his body covered in a thin veil of cold sweat. He rolled over, looking at the clock on his nightstand. It read 4:15 AM. He sighed and pulled himself out of bed.

"Card?" A soft voice mumbled out in the silence.

"Yes, darling?" He replied, grabbing a shirt out of the dresser and pulling it on.

"Where are ya going? I'm cold." Card could see the outline of Virgil roll over to face him.

"I'm gonna go for a run."

"Card, did you have another dream?" Virgil's voice sounded slightly more awake now. Virgil always knew when something was wrong, and he always tried his best to fix it which Card loved him for, but this wasn't something he could fix. He couldn't erase the memories of blood, the ringing of the cannons across the arena, the look on Sheen's face as she died in front of him. He shuddered, and he could hear Virgil getting out of bed and then his arms wrapping around his torso, his soft hair against his neck.

"C'mon, come back to bed. It's too early for a run." Virgil mumbled into Card's chest. Card sighed and let Virgil lead him back to bed, climbing in under the soft blankets. Card desperately wanted the sleep, but he couldn't turn his mind off, thoughts of death filling his mind. He thought of his mother, a sickly woman who he loved with his entire being, she was the entire reason he volunteered, was so when he came home he could take care of her better. He remembered waking up in the hospital and being told she had died while he was in the arena, dead of a broken heart, all his sacrifices for nothing. Well not exactly nothing, he thought as Virgil pushed his face against his chest, asleep but wanting to be warm. Card smiled, looking down at Virgil, the one light left in his life.

"I love you Virg." Card whispered.

"Shut the fuck up and go to sleep," Virgil grumbled in response. Card laughed quietly at this, and eventually drifted off with his face pressed into Virgil's hair.

Card pulled the leather jacket on, fixing the collar. He was nearly running late, but it wasn't like they could start training without him since he was the trainer.

"How do I look?" He asked, turning to look at Virgil.

"Like a very handsome man who hasn't brushed his hair," Virgil replied, looking up from his book.

"I brushed my hair already!" Card replied, thinking his hair looked perfectly fine.

"It doesn't look like you did," Virgil said, now putting his book down.

"Fine, I'll tie it up then." Card said, pulling a hair tie off his wrist. Virgil watched as Card put his hair in a bun.

"Better?" Card asked. Virgil pushed his glasses up and nodded happily.

"Yes sir, looks far better," Virgil said with a grin.

"Are you gonna come with me?" Card said, slinging his training bag over his shoulder.

"Do I have to?" Virgil said with a groan.

"It would make my day." Card made a pleading face with those words.

"Ugh, fine. Let me get dressed." Virgil pulled himself out of bed and made his way to the closet to find some suitable clothing.

"I'll wait for you in the living room. Don't take too long!" Card said, leaving the room. He made his way down the nearby staircase and into the living room, flopping onto the couch. Today was his first day working as a mentor at the training academy, after taking a 6-month break after winning. He ran his hand over his face, brushing against the scar that stretched from under one eye to the other across the bridge of his nose. He could've had it removed, had his skin turned back to normal, but he liked it. Virgil ran down the stairs, zipping his jacket up.

"Alright, I'm ready. Get your butt off the couch and let's go." Virgil said, sticking his feet up on a chair next to the door to tie his shoes. Card pulled himself off the couch, already having put his shoes on. Virgil finished tying his shoes and Card opened the door, holding it open for Virgil who shot a grin at him.

"Are we taking the train?" Virgil asked as they walked out of the Victors Village.

"Yep, I don't feel like walking that far." Card replied, taking Virgil's hand.

"Shit, why does it have to be so cold?" Virgil said, pulling his jacket around himself tighter with his one hand.

"We're in District Two in the middle of February, what do you expect?"

"Why can't we move to Four or something, it's warm there isn't it?" Card nodded.

"Yeah, but I like it here better." Card said as they stepped into the train station. They boarded the train, still hand in hand, the doors closing behind them.

Authors' Note:

Alright, everyone! Welcome to "House of Gold: The 39th Hunger Games". This is a collab between me and times! Say hi times.

wassup its times.

Yep! Anyways, we are incredibly psyched to share with you all this new story! As I mentioned before, it's a collab. I will be writing half of the tributes, and half of the tributes will be written by times! We will be accepting tribute submissions for all of the tributes but if we fill up the featured tribute spots, we will fill up the non-featured tribute spots with our own tributes! If you have your eyes on a slot but you'll take a few days to submit, just let us know, we are not doing reservations but we don't want y'all to miss out! Does that make sense?

yessir, i do believe so. if there are any questions, ya can direct em towards one of us. -times

He's right! We are open to any questions! I swear, we don't bite! Anyways, the tribute submission form and open slots are on my profile! I'll say them now though. The featured slots are D1F, D3M, D5F, D7M, D9F, and D11M (written by Fox) and D2M, D4F, D6M, D8F, D10M, and D12F (written by times). Finally, submissions are first-come, first-serve!

well kinda, we may turn down a tribute if they don't vibe. -times

Yeah, times is right! We will be accepting most tributes, but if they don't work with our plans, we won't be accepting them and we hope you all can understand that. Anyways, this chapter was written by times! The next chapter will be written by me, Fox, and it'll be our first tribute introductions!

speaking of mrs infamous, go check out our solo stories if you haven't already, mrs infamous by well, me and partners by fox. -times

Thanks, times! Also, keep a lookout for future stories from either of us! Another thing, we will try to update consistently but life gets in the way sometimes, please bear with us if we slow down or lull a bit, we have every intention of finishing this story, it may just be slow sometimes. One last thing, it will be made clear who wrote each individual POV/chapter so you all know, times and I have similar writing styles, but they are different in their own way! However, both of us are working collaboratively on everything else behind the scenes! Finally, onto the actual chapter here. What did you think of Card? We'll definitely be seeing more of him! What about Virgil? How cute are they?

quite cute in my opinion, and i quite like card. -times.

I like Card as well, he and Virgil are simply adorable! Anyways, Fox, signing off. See you all next time!

times signing off, remember be gay do crimes. -times.

06/15/20.