"The winner of the 70th hunger games
Raven Corven! From district seven".

  That sound was engraved into his skull, each sentence, each word painted with thick red ink. He could still feel the way his hands would twitch every time he would swing the ax into someone's flesh.

He could hear the cracks of bones snapping as he let the ax crush away any innocence he still grasped. He felt the blood and dirt coating his lips every time he would open his eyes. Felt the cold winds make his body shiver as he ached for warmth.

He spent so many nights trying to escape that arena, yet no matter what he did, he was always back. Each year he was dragged out of the comfort of his home, forced to aid those in need. Help people learn how to kill innocent people, and each year he watched them die by the hands of the other districts.

He remembered the way the light would leave their eyes, the way they would scream and beg for mercy. He only held one successful Victor on his shoulders, Johanna Mason, a girl who won the 71st hunger games. He was actually relieved for once when he saw her win, when he watched her axe down every single person who stood in her way.

She wasn't the same person afterward, he didn't blame her, he had changed too after his games. He did his best as her mentor, and when her family was killed by snow, he did his best to protect her.

Raven gasped awake when someone shocked his shoulder slightly, his body was coated in sweat. His hair was a mess as he sat up "you were screaming again".

Her voice sounded soothing as she looked down at him, her eyes clashing with his and making his heart melt away into puddles.

He pushed his hair away from his face as Johanna whispered to him, afraid he'd freak out if she spoke too loudly in the moment. "I could hear it from next door, Blight was going to check on you, but I got here first".

Raven sighed deeply, his chest heaving with anxiety and fear as he felt the soft touch of Johanna. Her hand felt so right on his, he intertwined his fingers with her, holding them gently as he smiled softly.

"I'm fine, nothing I haven't dealt with before, with the reaping being next week, it's throwing me off, we both know my track record isn't good enough to keep these kids alive, not since you".

He pushed himself off the bed as he walked past Johanna, the woman sighed at his distress, she cracked a lame joke to lighten the mood. "I'm just the best I guess, none of those other kids listened to your advice, that's why they died in that arena so fast".

Raven groaned in annoyance as he walked towards his door. "No need to remind me, it's not my fault they didn't have the skills to survive".

He relaxed when Johanna grabbed a hold of his arm "they do it on purpose, every year they make you help those kids, because we both know, you'd never let me mentor anyone, no one likes me".

He grinned and chuckled his eyes looking over her face as he licked his lips "I like you, isn't that enough?". She looked down at him, her fingers hovering over his shoulder with hesitation.

"We can't, snow will kill you if he even finds out about us, so you better keep your distance, peacekeepers will be all over the place with the games around the corner, we can't risk it this week".

She looked so sad as she moved back, her hands pushing themselves to her sides as she tried to remain silent about everything. He could sense the pain she held so deep in her chest, it made him wanna cry.

He lifted her chin with his thumb rubbing small circles on the flesh as she sighed softly. "The curtains are closed, I doubt snow is stalking me in my own bedroom, can't I just kiss you? Without you running off every time because you're afraid".

He leaned towards her lips, her breath hitching into the back of her throat as she looked at his lips. She felt the warmth of his hands holding her, with such delicate manners as he mended his lips against her.

His thumb pressed against her cheek as she closed her eyes, savoring the moment. He sighed softly as he let her go, "I'm sorry" with one final glance her way he walked out of the bedroom.

—

   Johanna walked out of the bedroom after she let herself calm down into a more relaxed mood. She turned the corner smelling the strong scent of bacon and alcohol. She looked at Raven with sadness.

He hovered over the stove, flipping the bacon with ease. His hand rested on a glass of whatever alcohol he could get his grasp on, the liquid full to the brim.

Slouching over the edges and coating his fingers with a sticky residue as he took a drink of it. "Is it already happy hour? You'll get sick if you keep drinking that".

He chuckled his eyes looking at her intensely as he set the cup down onto the wooden cupboard beside him. The liquid coated the wooden surface with drops and lines, so many of those marks coated that surface.

Each a reminder of Raven's hardships, of his suffering. "Relax Johanna, it's only one little drink, won't kill me yet and it never will". He rubbed the back of his neck slightly as he turned the stove off, he was always so lost inside of his thoughts.

"You'd think with the reaping around the corner, people would stop giving me pity looks, I can't even walk a mile outside without someone looking at me, it's like they're afraid I'll snap and murder them.. because apparently if you're in the games all you are known for is killing innocent people".

Johanna sighed as she sat across from Raven, "just make people hate you, works real wonders. No one ever stares at me when I'm outside".

He chuckled "cause they're actually scared of you. They think you'll ax them in the face, not that I haven't done it plenty of times". He set the plate of bacon in front of Johanna, the scent of it overwhelmed her senses as she saw the absence of his plate,

"You never eat anymore, you should stop punishing yourself" he sat down beside her patting her leg slightly before he handed her a fork  "i eat, just not so early in the morning... it's depressing".

He sunk into himself as he looked at the cup that rested on the wooden cupboard, watching as it left a large stain. He licked his lips in frustration as he looked away from it "I'm trying my best to quit, even if you don't think I'm trying... I'm trying for you Jo".

She grew tense, as she looked at him "stop doing things for my sake, I never asked you to get sober... I just want you to stop moping around all the time, start doing more things for yourself not for me".

He watched her, she ate her food in silence as he stood up "I have no one else besides you Johanna, snow seen to that the second I refused to be his little toy. We both should know what it's like to lose everything at the hands of him... I made sure he didn't go for you after he killed your family".

She laughed as she shook her head "yeah all you did was agree to be his stupid little puppet for the games, I never asked you to do that for me, you're an idiot".

He would've taken offense at her comment but he didn't, he rolled his eyes "it kept your ass alive, you should be thanking me, you'd be dead if it weren't for me making that deal with snow".

Johanna scoffed as she stood up "you only took that deal to try and fix that guilt you feel all the damn time, I could've helped myself just fine".

Raven leaned into the wall "then why are you here, if you're all about helping yourself. Why are you here everyday helping me? You've never once just left me here all alone, you're always here Johanna".

She pushed her arms over her chest as she let out a heavy breath "you never kick me out, and besides you're always screaming... would you rather I leave you here to wake the entire district? Or perhaps you'd prefer Blight wake you up, he's good company".

Raven rolled his eyes "of course you're not taking this seriously, how I've befriended you is beyond me". He walked towards her and she didn't move once.

"I'm the only friend you got Raven if that's what we even are anymore, you really gonna push me away? We both know you can't live without me in your life". He chuckled "you're already pushing me away, and I get it's because of snow... because you're afraid he'll get me killed... but he doesn't have to know Johanna, no one besides us does and I promise you I won't let you die, not because of me and you wouldn't last a day without me beside you, we need each other".

Johanna looked down at her feet, listening to the soft rise of Raven's breath as he leaned into the counter. His fingernails dug into the palm of his hands as he held back his tears of frustration.

"I.. I'm trying to do better for you Johanna, and for myself, I don't wanna be stuck in that arena anymore". His voice cracked as he bit into his lip with nerves and anger, he could taste the blood on his tongue. Felt the warmth of it as he ached for the pain to fade away into a deep part of his mind.

"I know Rave" her voice was so soft, her eyes meeting his in a desperate clash of emotions. "Let's just leave, we can go anywhere and be free of this. No more capitol and no more hunger games".

He nodded as he looked around his home "yeah, screw this place. We can leave during the reaping, everyone will be in once place, which means we can slip past the peacekeepers and any lurkers"

He let out a breath of relief as he didn't see any hesitation on Johanna's face. She smiled and he felt his body relax as he smiled back at her.

—
authors notes:
I have no life, it's 4:30AM and I've been writing for this nonstop. I have to wake up early and yet here I am, welp... let me take my ass to bed, enjoy this basic little introduction to this story. Can't wait to continue for this story, and honestly I might make more hunger games fics, so any love interest requests, please not finnick, there's way too many fics for that man.