WREAK HAVOC.
( the rooftop )

JULY 6TH, THE TRIBUTE CENTER

      Apollo Nephus wished he could turn off his brain. The boy had spent so long always knowing everything, his brain much more enhanced than most children's, and sometimes it turned out to be more of a burden than he ever knew it could be. A burden because he often knew how events would play out, and no matter how much he wouldn't want them to, he was smart enough to try and accept the inevitable. The only difference this time was the inevitable was him and his sisters death, and no matter how smart he was, or how well he knew exactly how this would play out, it was something he couldn't just accept.

How could he accept that their only fate was death?

He had been driving himself insane thinking of the days events, and how even when he practically begged his sister to lose, she didn't listen. He couldn't stop thinking of how angry some of the tributes were when she had won, or how the careers had glared both of them down the remainder of the training day. Apollo was smart enough to know they were officially a high target, and fighting their way out of the arena was going to prove even harder than it would have been in the first place. The boy couldn't tell if he was more afraid or angry, both emotions not one he liked to feel often.

"It's nice up here, isn't it?" A voice said from behind him.

Apollo swung around, not hearing the elevator arrive to the roof, or any footsteps approach him. It was yet again another reason the boy wished he could just stop thinking for just one second so he could try to live in the present.

When he came face to face with Niko from District Two, he about threw himself off the rooftop. He knew he wouldn't actually die, but it was still better than being alone with him up here. Niko seemed to sense his dilemma as he let out a little laugh, but didn't attempt to get any closer. He just stood there amused at the how the other boy was looking at him.

"I came up here last night," Niko told the boy, not caring if he didn't want to hear it. "I hate how quiet the loft gets once everyone asleep. I don't know how it is in District Three, but in Two there was always something going on. Whether it was building a new structure, or masons mending new weapons. You could always hear people, and for some reason it was actually pretty comforting. Knowing that your life would still be there when you woke up."

Apollo didn't understand why he was even telling him any of this, or even why he was talking to him at all. It was quiet for about twenty seconds, and it seemed that Niko was waiting to see if he would reply, and when he didn't he just kept talking.

"Anyway, it was too quiet so I came up here to see if I could hear the people in the streets, which you can, obviously. The cheering and partying is nice to hear, especially if they occasionally cheer your name."

Apollo grimaced at that, not surprised that the citizens of The Capitol were cheering the name of a career. "Must be nice," he replied before he thought too much about it.

Niko smiled when he answered, maneuvering his way to the ledge of the roof, about two feet away from where Apollo was standing. "Well, after your sisters win today, I wouldn't be surprised if they started cheering for you both. Congratulations, by the way."

Niko looked at Apollo, and the boy instantly frowned at his words. It was obvious he was trying to get in his head, it's the only reason he would bring up his sisters win, and he was spiraling back to the thought process of what sent him up here in the first place.

"You think that's funny?" Apollo asked. "Coming up here, trying to act like a decent human being and getting in my head? Taunting the fact that my sister won today?"

"I wouldn't necessarily say congratulating you counts as a taunt," Niko replied back with a glint of amusement.

"Maybe it wouldn't to most, but I'm also not stupid. I know what you're doing," Apollo spit back, turning away from the boy beside him and looking out into the city.

He could feel a shift on his right, and when he turned his head back Niko was much closer than he was before, but he wasn't glaring or looking like he was about to murder him, if anything he looked on the verge of laughing.

"And what am I doing exactly?" Niko asked.

Apollo could feel him breathing, and everything in his brain went haywire. When he wished for his brain to turn off this definitely was not what he meant.

"You know what you're doing. And if you really think you can come up here and try to befriend me, or get under my skin, or whatever it is you're trying to do, then you're wrong. Because if you think for one second that I am going to fall for your stupid act of playing human, then—" Apollo's rant stopped short when Niko reached out and played with the collar of his hoodie he was currently wearing. The act startled him beyond belief, and he truly didn't understand anything that was happening. How was he supposed to think straight when he was standing so close to him, and touching him, and breathing so close to him?

Leave, his brain yelled at him. But Apollo wasn't going to back down from whatever this was, he refused.

"And you know what?" Apollo said, his voice slightly wavering when Niko's fingers had moved from his collar to the skin of his neck. "Don't even talk about my sister, ever. Okay? Don't talk about her winning, or how much of a so called threat that makes her. You don't even get to say her name, alright? Leave her the fuck alone. And I am so serious about that, so you can go tell your little army of careers that if any of you touch even a hair on her head, that I will fry whatever brains you have out of your thick skulls."

Apollo was waiting to get hit, or shoved over the edge, but the only thing Niko did was take a step away from him and started to laugh. The grin on his face glowed underneath the moonlight, and Apollo's eyes couldn't help but he drawn to it.

"You're cute when you're angry, you know that?" Niko said to him, before he leaned back against the railing.

Apollo couldn't help but choke on his breathe, looking at the boy standing in front of him. "And you can stop that, okay? I'm sure flirting usually gets you whatever it is you want normally, but why don't you save it for Mercury, or Caldwell. I... I'm not even g—"

"What, you're not even gay? Neither am I."

Apollo's head hurt. Nothing about the last ten minutes made any sense to him, and it didn't fit into his brain the right way. There was nothing about Niko that was supposed to be making him feel this way.

"If you're not gay than why are you—"

"I prefer the term bisexual," Niko said with a shrug, seemingly not bothered by anything that was happening. "You know, when a person likes both girls and boys."

"Yeah, I know what bisexual means asshole," Apollo replied back with a glare.

Niko smirked at his reply. He loved the way he wasn't afraid to call him out, or cuss at him. All the other tributes stayed out of his way, and when he came up here Niko was definitely not expecting to get lectured or called out, yet the only thing it made him want to do was stay up here longer.

"Do you wanna find out?" Niko asked, taking a step closer to him. He didn't move away, and allowed him to trace the vein on the side of his neck once again.

"Find out what?" Apollo whispered back.

"Whether what you're saying is actually true," Niko said back. His face was so close to the other boys now that he could smell the light trace of mint, and it only drew him closer. "You say you're not gay, but you have to be the least bit curious, Apollo."

Apollo had to be dreaming, he realized. His brain must have come up with the most messed up thing it could conjure up to drive him even more insane. Because there was no way that he was standing on this roof with Nikolaus Thornton who was asking whether he wanted to kiss him or not. And there was no way his heart could possibly be beating this fast without him dropping dead, or that his stomach jumped at the sound of his name coming from the boys mouth. No way no way no way.

Niko took his silence as a response, and moved just the slightest bit forward. He knew there was the smallest space between their lips, but Apollo didn't move away. He was too focused on digging his nails into his own hand, feeling the pain and realizing he really wasn't dreaming.

Niko wanted to know what was going through his thoughts, and what had him staying in this spot with him. He wanted to know why he wasn't getting shoved back, or why the boy wasn't running to the elevator and far away from him. And he really wanted to know what caused him to want to kiss him so badly. Niko moved his hand from his neck to his hair, hoping touching him would be enough to quiet his want, but when Apollo had closed his eyes to try and gain his bearings, Niko couldn't stop himself.

It was the slightest brush, really. The softest touch that almost didn't feel real. It took everything in his body for Niko to pull away from the feeling of Apollo's soft lips, but the boy didn't seem to agree as he leaned forward again, only to open his eyes to the sight of Niko's eyes blazing and could feel his cheeks burning as much as his veins were. Apollo could swear his bones were on fire.

"I guess you were wrong," Niko mumbled, still close enough to feel the heat radiating between them and could feel the boys heart pounding against his chest.

And for the second time that day, Niko had to force himself to walk away before he did something he would most likely regret later.