Valden Gomexius P.O.V:
The colors were vibrant here.
I could feel the wind in my hair, touches of dew against my suit. A smile was etched on my face, but it felt strangely peaceful.
Colors of the night filled my vision thereafter. The clinking of dinner buffet plates and guffaws of laughter harmonized throughout the air. Slow and steady…yes. That's how I dreamed it.
"You got this, lad!"
"My, my, all the money in the world and children to control; it must be a big position to fill the shoes of, hm?"
"Ooo there he is! The lead designer himself!"
Many more radiated warmth, other voices drowned out by the saxophones, fingers gliding along the piano's keys. It felt jovial for once, a true occasion to celebrate. It didn't matter what obstacles laid before me; my mind didn't want to escape this feeling.
"…us?"
Except…
"Mr….!"
No, not now. I don't want to LEAVE-
SLAM!
...
My body startled itself awake. This was no dream; there were chills in this room.
But my eyes were still bleary from sleep…it pained me to see the warm colors vanish from me.
The pearl office walls stare back at me when I glance to the right. To the left I expect to find nothing…but I'm proven wrong. To the desk my vision goes and I find my scraps of blueprints staring back at me (some covered with eraser markings). And above us?
Velour Noxis's icy glare.
No wonder the room felt colder when I woke up…
"Sleeping on the job is unsuitable for those that hold the title of Gamemaker…hm, Mr. Gomexius?"
Words collected, yet laced with poison. Stay professional…
Her eyes leave me, turning to my compatriot in the leftmost chair, "As is wandering the Capitol during a workday to do nothing but DOODLE, Miss Sakuradite."
My ears pick up tiny grumbles, but she doesn't say anything. She doesn't even say anything when the opened 'offense' in question is placed upon the table.
Wait, those aren't doodles at all…
Finely penciled sketches of the park's animals are shown to the three of us; I even recognize a few of the animals from the Capitol's mutt zoo. Mutt designer or not, Saku-no, Alora has a keen eye.
"And lastly, Gamemakers do. NOT. PARTY."
Each word brought out new pictures. No, photographs. Us in various compromising positions. I don't remember these in the way they describe, but…No.
A lump grows in my throat. But my companion?
She looked unperturbed.
"Where the hell did you get these?" boredom seeped through her question, "Because if you can't tell, these photos were edited-"
"Does it Matter?"
The clack of our boss's heels echo, her expression downturned. Looking down at us…
"Capitol these days want any source or gossip they can sink their teeth in to make us look weak. Incompetent. Unwanted," She bolstered the last word as she turned to the desk, a seal of Panem engraved in silver, " And if we look incompetent or unwanted, then who will you be but meat to dogs? Who will keep the D-"
Her voice stops. No…she was right to correct herself.
"Who will help keep Panem IN. LINE?" Chills run down my spine. The clack of her shoes come closer, almost to our ears, " So if you want to keep these pictures from getting leaked…you do as I say."
One last eye lingers over us; her calmer demeanor, her mask returns to her face. One step…two steps. She reaches the door.
"Not that you matter to anyone, District scum."
Her devil's heels echo out of the room. The chills from her presence seem to linger, even as my own glare grows. No, keep calm.
.
.
.
Silence. Nothing but the breath from our lungs fills the room, reality sinking in once again.
Judgemental eyes on us. Any work we do, whether I code or blueprint this arena and Alora designs the mutts inside and out, no matter the hours we put in or any signature we make…Noxis claims them all.
Everything would be hers while we're forced to be empty handed, look incompetent in everyones point of view.
Just as she did with the Games report she gave to President Eter a few weeks back.
..."You do as I say,"
Unlike Noxis's words, Alora's imitation was more…high pitched. Childish. Yet I couldn't mask the smirk on my face. Even if the both of us were down.
"One of these days she's getting off that chilly high horse of hers."
"Agreed."
Down Noxis goes, into the mud while we ride on...
We must shake it off. Back to being professional…though a thought lingers.
"Off her high horse…what do you imagine being Head Gamemaker would be like?"
I watch as Alora's eyes tilt up in thought, a pointer playing with her pink hair, "We can draw everything we want without being put in boxes. Hell we could also eat and sleep anytime…what about you?" her gaze turns back to me….and I see it.
Hurt…but also dreams. Alora's told me constantly of dreaming she wasn't stressed…
But my own?
"…to not get looked down by others."
A simultaneous nod is shared. My dream. Our dreams…if only they weren't out of our grasp, not under Noxis's heel.
That and her pictures…pictures of the reality we face.
...
SURPRIIIISE! SakuraDreamerz here coming to you live after a loooong wait!
We finally get to meet our other two Gamemakers, Valden Gomexius and Alora Sakuradite (as well as the return of Velour) OwO What do you think of them? And how will they fare in the face of their boss?
To everyone who has submitted a tribute or two, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU! Because of your efforts, we are now half full; we'd love to have the rest of the spots filled before we finish the prologues!
Until next time, May the Odds Be Ever In Your Favor!
-SakuraDreamerz & Gomex