Interlude 2:

Mayor Fen Mayes, 39 years old, Kaney Mayes' (20th) Father

Mandatory Viewing Night 2, District 11

The second time today I see my only son get stabbed in the neck by the District 4 career. I grip my wife's shoulders tightly and she lets out a small cry. My hands fall to her stomach as I kiss her sadly on her neck. Kaney's three little friends are watching us with an awkward glance in their eyes and the cameras are all focused on us.

I fix my tie and cede duties to the deupty mayor and grip Blaire's hands to guide her off stage. It's been a tiring day for the both of us and this suit is constricting me way more than it should. The president says that everything happens for a reason and it just may be me but those reasons are becoming less and less apparent. Blaire and I are guided back home to our...mansion…

Until our little Bucky or Katherine is born...this house is going to be much bigger than it usually is. I became mayor a decade ago, when Kaney was still toddling through the halls and had no idea what the difference was between a pear and an apple. "I can still feel him here," Blaire tells me, sitting in Kaney's favorite chair.

I walk over to the chair and I remember all those times the three of us would sit in a chair and simply read a story. He loved reading. "I feel his presence too," I state quietly, combing my fingers through Blaire's hair. "We're still going to protect his friends."

"I'm going to put their families on my list. I think he would have liked that," Blaire solemnly notes.

She heads off into the kitchen to grab a drink and it's my turn to sit in Kaney's chair. It was only a little over a week ago that I said a final goodbye to him. He always wanted to smile, he loved telling stories, and he loved having fun. I wish I could have seen him grow a whole lot more.

My hand goes to a scar directly on my cheek, when I was mistaken for a criminal and duly punished by a trigger happy peacekeeper. Thinking about it triggers yet another memory about my son and his friends, and it's not a pleasant one.

Lorcus McAuckswatch, 12 years old, Kimberly McAuckswatch's (19th) Brother

Mandatory Viewing Night 2, District 4

The image of Kimberly's execution burns in my mind one last time as her picture disappears in a wave on the big screen all in front of us. It doesn't seem like her to break the rules and it's just frustrating to see her punished for something she couldn't have controlled! I break away from my parents and walk over to join Lotus and my crew as peacekeepers wisely choose to pick us out.

"Hey, LOrcus," someone sneers from my group. "I thought your sister's instinct was to save."

I turn to face the heckler, a dumb blond girl named Yamuna Shannon, and face her with a wolf's glare. "What?"

"Maybe if she didn't volunteer to kill, she'd be alive, that was quite dumb of her, wasn't it?"

I feel myself going red as I storm up to her and punch her in the stomach. "You can't hit a girl!" her cohort says.

"I thougth you believed in girl power," I say sardonically. She tries to retaliate but I pounce on her, screaming and punching her eyes. "IF YOU MAKE FUN OF MY SISTER AGAIN, MARK MY WORDS, YOU'RE DEADER THAN DEAD!"

It take Lotus pulling me off of her for me to stop. She gets up and opens her mouth to make a joke but it ocmes out a whimper and she runs off crying with her friend. "I never liked her anyway."

"Neither did I," I grumble. "If I hear you talking about my sister in that manner...we're not friends anymore."

"Got it," LOtus says. He knows I can beat him but, but I like him, and I don't want to beat him up unless he's fine with it. He turns to the other boys and the last girl in our clique. "You hear that? You guys aren't exempt from getting your asses handed to you," Lotus says in a low growl.

Hey Guys, Hopps Here

So...now it's time for the eulogies. It's a fitting send off to a set of two characters that I had a whole lot of fun with.

20th- Kaney Mayes, 13 year old District 11 Male, I remember asking Mik for a character, and boy did they deliver! I had a lot of fun tapping into the childhood fantasy of having the run of the town because your father was just so prominent as a figure. Unfortunately, like many young tributes of the past, he perished and I hope that he was able to give Kim a run for her money.

19th- Kimberly McAuckswatch, 16 year old District 4 Female. Platrium, thank you so much for such a great girl involved with search and rescue. She was noble at heart, which is why I didn't see her going far. She seemed like an easy pick of the toughies to go out. I had a blast writing her even if I did fumble a fair bit with her eating disorder. I hope you enjoyedd reading her as I enjoyed writing her.

I don't know if that's all I can say for those tributes but I know I had a metric buttload of fucktons of fun and I'm glad that I had this opportunity to write these characters for you all

Hopping out

Hopps