Condolences Call - THG ficlet for lorataprose
I wrote this in reference to To Love a Beast.
Improbable, but I wanted it to happen! (and then I wanted the AU that fixed it even more)
A telephone call between the parents of victors, post-Mockingjay. (as if you couldn't tell from the title that I'm going to get sloppy and emotional)
"'Scuse me, Ma'am? I'm sorry to be taking up your time-"
The man on the other line sounds entirely unfamiliar. His accent sounds like Four. She waits to hear what he's going to say next. When he'll realize he's called the wrong number.
"Your son was Brutus, right?" His breath catches strangely. She feels a pang in her chest. She will never not feel it at acknowledgements such as this. "My son was Theo Goff."
Neither of them say anything for what seems like a long time after that. "Yes," she answers at last, "Brutus was mine."
"He was a good man," Theo's father says, "My son liked him. We watched his Games together, when Theo was just a kid. He was real inspired by Brutus. It made him rush into Special Athletics Club- uh, those were our Careers- right as soon as I would let him."
The Fours tended to blend a bit together to her. There were enough of them for that. If there was anything she remembered from Theo's Games, she didn't attribute it to him. He'd been married though, to another victor. She remembered that, because for the big Capitol wedding, Brutus has been there. It wasn't the kind of thing she watched, but a few of them mentioned it to her at the mines. The way they'd described him, she knew he'd looked as he usually did for all these things, so strong and poised.
He doesn't seem to expect her to say anything. "…I guess I just called because…You went on TV during Brutus' Games. I don't remember any parents from Two ever doing that. Maybe Theo never forgot Brutus, but I always remembered that."
"Yeah?"
"And I guess I got to wonderin' whatever happened to you and yours… That you survived the war."
'Why am I alive when my son is gone?' If that were the thought that was rattling around in his head right now, Heidi could certainly understand him.
"I wanted to say my condolences. For myself, and on Theo's behalf as well. He liked his fellow victors. It hurt him that any of them had to die, but I'm sure what happened to Brutus had to have bothered him a lot in particular."
"…Condolences. Mine too. For your son and your daughter-in-law."
"S-sorry again. I shouldn't be bothering you like this."
"…There's not a Mrs. Goff, is there?" She didn't seem to recollect it that way, but.
"Not since my Theo was a baby."
"Well, whoever is there for you, you should go on over and see them now, mister. Because it seems to me that you're in desperate need of a hug." She knew because she needed the same thing.
Improbable, but I wanted it to happen! (and then I wanted the AU that fixed it even more)
A telephone call between the parents of victors, post-Mockingjay. (as if you couldn't tell from the title that I'm going to get sloppy and emotional)
"'Scuse me, Ma'am? I'm sorry to be taking up your time-"
The man on the other line sounds entirely unfamiliar. His accent sounds like Four. She waits to hear what he's going to say next. When he'll realize he's called the wrong number.
"Your son was Brutus, right?" His breath catches strangely. She feels a pang in her chest. She will never not feel it at acknowledgements such as this. "My son was Theo Goff."
Neither of them say anything for what seems like a long time after that. "Yes," she answers at last, "Brutus was mine."
"He was a good man," Theo's father says, "My son liked him. We watched his Games together, when Theo was just a kid. He was real inspired by Brutus. It made him rush into Special Athletics Club- uh, those were our Careers- right as soon as I would let him."
The Fours tended to blend a bit together to her. There were enough of them for that. If there was anything she remembered from Theo's Games, she didn't attribute it to him. He'd been married though, to another victor. She remembered that, because for the big Capitol wedding, Brutus has been there. It wasn't the kind of thing she watched, but a few of them mentioned it to her at the mines. The way they'd described him, she knew he'd looked as he usually did for all these things, so strong and poised.
He doesn't seem to expect her to say anything. "…I guess I just called because…You went on TV during Brutus' Games. I don't remember any parents from Two ever doing that. Maybe Theo never forgot Brutus, but I always remembered that."
"Yeah?"
"And I guess I got to wonderin' whatever happened to you and yours… That you survived the war."
'Why am I alive when my son is gone?' If that were the thought that was rattling around in his head right now, Heidi could certainly understand him.
"I wanted to say my condolences. For myself, and on Theo's behalf as well. He liked his fellow victors. It hurt him that any of them had to die, but I'm sure what happened to Brutus had to have bothered him a lot in particular."
"…Condolences. Mine too. For your son and your daughter-in-law."
"S-sorry again. I shouldn't be bothering you like this."
"…There's not a Mrs. Goff, is there?" She didn't seem to recollect it that way, but.
"Not since my Theo was a baby."
"Well, whoever is there for you, you should go on over and see them now, mister. Because it seems to me that you're in desperate need of a hug." She knew because she needed the same thing.